Last week, we reported on the top five hardest hit areas for increased petrol and diesel prices, after May saw the steepest price hike for 18 years. PetrolPrices reported that, in some places, motorists paid between 7.5-7.7 pence extra on a litre of fuel, despite the wholesale cost falling.
This week, there’s good news for motorists as news came of supermarkets reducing their fuel prices in what some are describing as a new ‘price war’.
Why have prices dropped?
The drop in the wholesale price of fuel is due to rumours that oil-producer Opec will lift the restriction on production and the increased level of drilling and oil production by the US and Russia.
Even though the wholesale price of fuel has been 2.5 pence lower since the 24th of May, motorists hadn’t seen the reduction in price reflected at the pumps until Asda took the lead, cutting their pump prices last week by up to 3p a litre.
Due to the supermarket setting a price cap across all its forecourts, drivers can expect to pay up to 125 pence per litre for unleaded and 128 pence per litre for diesel across any of Asda’s 318 forecourts. A price cap merely limits the top price rather than setting a fixed price across all forecourts.
Tesco, Morrisons, and Sainsbury’s have followed Asda’s lead and have cut their forecourt prices, too. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait to hear any announced cuts from other retailers although motorists may notice a slight drop over the next few days.
Did the price actually change?
On the day the news broke that Asda was slashing their prices — Wednesday the 13th of June — their petrol prices were 128.9 pence per litre, yet two days later it was up to 132.3 pence per litre, only to come down to 128.2 pence per litre three days afterwards. Diesel got cut from 134.9 pence per litre to 132.4 pence per litre.
Sainsbury’s was charging an average of 129.8 pence per litre last Wednesday. Since then the price has come down to 128.9 pence per litre. Yet diesel is up from 130.9 pence per litre to 132.2 pence per litre.
At Morrisons, petrol came down from 132.9 pence per litre to 129.1 pence per litre, but their diesel price went up from 131.9 pence per litre to 132.6 pence per litre.
Tesco’s pump prices have gone up — though Tesco said they’ll cut them. Their petrol increased from 130.5 pence per litre to 130.8 pence per litre. Diesel too increased from 132.9 pence per litre to 133.6 pence per litre.
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Welcome relief
After the RAC described May’s rise in fuel prices, as “a hellish month for motorists”, their Senior Press Officer, Rod Dennis, said: “At last, retailers have done the right thing and started to cut prices at the pumps. From our data, we could see no justification for them holding on to savings that they have been benefiting from for three weeks.
“With petrol prices rising at their fastest rate in 18 years last month, millions of households and businesses will have been feeling the effect of having to spend more on what is an essential purchase for many.
“Today’s cuts should bring some welcome relief. It is absolutely right that at times when wholesale prices are falling, forecourt prices follow suit.”
Roger Burnley, Chief Executive for Asda, said: “We know that the cost of living is centre of mind for our customers and we will always do whatever we can to reduce that burden.”
Although the price cut is welcome news to drivers, many will be cynical. After such a hike in recent prices, a cut of 2-3 pence on a litre isn’t much to celebrate. Other drivers will be angry it’s taken so long for forecourts to pass on the savings; three weeks after the wholesale price of fuel dropped.
With petrol and diesel often in the top three of a household’s biggest budget expenses, is this price reduction enough?
Getting the most from your car
With more of UK motorists saying fuel prices are making car ownership more prohibitive by the year, what can the average driver do to reduce what they pay out in petrol and diesel costs?
PetrolPrices is on a mission to save motorists money. We collect around 8,000 price updates each day, covering 98% of the UK’s fuel market. If you want to cut your fuel cost by, on average, £220 a year, become a PetrolPrices member by downloading the app, today.
Be on the alert of supermarkets offering discounted fuel vouchers at the till, for use at their own pumps. This can shave off a fair amount on a full tank of fuel. Often, both supermarkets and other fuel retailers also have loyalty card schemes. Every time you fill up your tank, you collect points, which you can use for later purchases of fuel.
If you always pay off your credit card balance each month, consider one that gives you cash back when you use it at petrol stations. Beware though, if you carry a balance on your credit card — the interest will cancel any savings made.
The faster you drive, the faster you consume fuel, so try to leave plenty of time before making journeys, to prevent being rushed. Figures by The Department for Transport show drivers use up to 25% more fuel travelling at 80mph instead of 70mph and 9% more fuel driving at 70mph than at 60mph.
The most fuel-efficient way to drive is smooth. This means being gentle with the accelerator, brakes, and steering — it’s a more relaxing way to drive, too. By focussing on the distance, you can better tell what will happen, adjust your driving, and maintain your flow.
What do you think about this so-called ‘price war’? Will the price cuts make a real difference to you or isn’t it enough of a reduction? Do you see the competition between fuel retailers driving the prices down further? Let us know in the comments.
We need to know which is the most effective petrol. The suggestion from Honest John the motoring correspondent is Shell but motorists need to know allow them to make an informed choice based on quality and price.
many brands of petrol now come from the same refinery as the petrol companies do no longer own their own refinery
Been comparing consumption between the brand’s over several years and lots of different cars and vans. Undoubtedly the best consumption figures come from Sainsbury’s. This applies to both petrol and diesel. 7 to 10% better consistently across everything from petrol Jags to diesel transits. Just the standard fuel not the expensive one. I don’t fill anywhere else now.
A bit surprised at that, as I though all fuel must conform to the same standard.
Raw fuel has the highest calorific value per litre, due to containing less additives for keeping injectors clean and fuel system lubricated.
I find the Sainsburys diesel to be very “dry”.
Short term gain for long term pain.
Motorists need to know which is the most effective petrol, Honest John, the motoring correspondent , says Shell is the best. We need to know to allow an informed choice to be made. Price is important but quality is fundamental to any decision we make,
I paid 122.9 at my local BP station yesterday. Sainsburys unleaded was 120.9, so much lower than prices you quoted. They have never been anywhere near 130 in Shrewsbury.
Lucky you. Cheapest Diesel in Tunbridge Wells 132.9.
Lucky you man. Wish I lived near there.
The usual Asda procedure, increase a price for a few days and
then announce a price reduction . But only to the same level or
above the previous price. They then trumpet how they
are trying to help give savings to the consumer. The same with
prices in store, they assume that customers don’t notice what
they are doing. No wonder they have lost so much market share
to Aldi and Lidl.
It was reduced last week to 121.9p from Thursday in Norwich and it’s 120.7p today!
Asda has stayed at 123.9 it has not increased or decreased in oldbury
No price cut there
Same here in Tweedmouth. Stayed the same now for two weeks
What really annoys me is that petrol prices are always a regional thing, even among supermarkets. There is never a standard price across the country, and no fathomable way of knowing why some areas enjoy lower prices than others. Quite frankly it’s disgraceful!! And don’t try kidding me that the cheaper prices are in the poorer areas ‘cos that is certainly not the case!!
But with PetroPrices.com it is possible to avoid the most expensive petrol stations!
Used to, until they invoked a charging scheme and hide results from long time loyal subscribers!
Hi Steven, we always show the five cheapest stations, however, Plus members see the 10 cheapest. Basic members receive 100 searches a month and have less specific filtering on price alerts etc. However Plus is only for those who use PetrolPrices extensively and Basic is perfect for 95% of users.
Asda has been really expensive over the past week or so.
On Monday, when I last filled up, PetrolPrices told me that Sainsburys was the cheapest at 121.9p, so I went there. Asda was 129.7p, and Esso, BP, etc were 127.9p.
Just goes to show Asda are not the great saviour they’re trying to make out they are! But consider yourself lucky. Cheapest I can get is 126.9 – and that’s at Sainsburys and Tesco.
If the Sainsbury’s and Asda merger goes through what will that do to competition and prices!?
Increase prices, when has a merger ever reduced prices.
Until there is standardisation of prices across the entire country, there can never be any fairness. Keep competition between companies by all means, but each company should have a standard price across the entire country.
Don’t be daft Jen. Since when has a 4-bed detached house cost the same in London and Newcastle? Salaries vary enormously around the UK and so do prices of everything of course.
WTI west Texas intermediate oil HAS dropped from $73. To $63. In the last few weeks ! The petrol price should be much more closely tied and not so ad hoc!
Love it. Asda always has the best fuel prices.
What Asda fail to realise is that I checked the fuel price before I left and as I was going past Morrisons anyway and the fuel price was very similar, I also did my weekly shop there too (just short of £170 plus £78 on fuel). So they lost out on making profit on fuel & store items.
Tescos keep putting fuel prices up in Oldham. They are artificially inflating prices and because of this the fellow competitors are matching their prices. So no supermarket in the area is cheap. Yet 4 miles down the road in Ashton it’s 4p cheaper. It’s about time something was done about tescos price fixing.
Colin.
If only the buying public stuck together for just 1 or 2 weeks and did NOT buy any fuel but made the fuel in tanks last WE WOULD BRING THESE GREEDY GRABBING SUPPLIERS TO THEIR KNEES. You would cost them MILLIONS in sales and panic is not the word more like suicidal. The people have the absolute power as to what these companies stay solvent. Don’t do unnecessary journeys just for a while by doing this you don’t buy from them so regularly, SO THEIR PROFITS DROP DRASTICALLY, sit and watch prices plummet. Most people would need to do it but you know people, can’t even get on with their own families or neighbours. Leave this with you ALL. I am doing this already!!!!!!.
MY local asda is currently 124.7 ppl 3.9 ppl cheaper than the next nearest price locally.
No change in price at ASDA in Tweedmouth, same price today as last Saturday
It’s interesting to see these comments about Asda being dear at less than £1.25 pl where I live anything less than £1.28 is cheap. To be fair Asda is always the fairest price amidst a proliferation of supermarkets here in Essex on top of the M25 – this all makes interesting reading. Am sure the supermarket groceries are not subject regional pricing except for the ‘Local’ and ‘Express’ convenience branches…?
£123.9 at local asda £120.9 at not far away Sainsburys and morrisons
Why have petrol stations stopped advertising their prices on signposts. ???
They haven’t of course.
If these were high street shops offering goods at these sale prices, you could have them prosecuted under the sales description act for false sales pricing, bit as the government rips us off every time we fill up, we haven’t a prayer of bringing them to court to answer for their sins.
Petrol is still cheap proportionally than it was in the 1970’s for example.
I remember in 1972 when prices shot up to £1 a gallon, that was 4.4 litres and we all complained, mind you I was only earning 12 quid a week so it is much cheaper today proportionally than it was then.
It is the same for cars, TV’s, fridges , freezers and holidays abroad, they are all now much cheaper proportionally to income than when I was a lad.
Everyone has one or two cars, two three TV’s etc these days.
I paid £119.9 for petrol at Sainsbury’s Wrexham yesterday. I went to Oswestery today for car service and the cheapest petrol along the route was £135.9!!! Granted I didn’t go near Sainsbury’s Oswestry, but according to the garage I was at that price is the norm in Oswestry. How can they warrant such a difference in about 18 miles?
Can I ask the old question,that I have never had a answer to.Why doe’s Diesel cost more in the UK,when in other countries of the EU Diesel is cheaper?
even a cut of 3p/litre would only save you £1.50 on a tankful. Gee whiz, don’t rush to spend it all at once. By the time you drive 5 miles there and back that’s £1 any savings gone already. They really do take us all for mugs…..what say others?
Sainsbury, Tunbridge Wells , was £1.299 per litre for standard unleaded at the weekend. Today it is £1.309 per litre . Price war ! What price war ?? What a joke !!
I was stunned when I received this from petrol prices today – Cheapest Unleaded stations within 5 miles of BN21 1TJ, recorded as of 18.06.18
SAINSBURYS HAMPDEN PARK, Cross Levels Way,Hampden Park,Eastbourne,BN22 9PW
1.15 miles away
119.9p per litre
Last recorded on 17.06.18
Cost to fill: *
£65.95
Max saving:
£5.50
What are the legal tolerances on delivered quantitity? +/-5%?
Surely a shrewd businessman would only deliver 951ml per litre and charge 2-3p less than rivals to attract custom? So beware of hunting the cheaper deals…they may have set their pumps to deliver less fuel than the pump dial says. Once I found a texaco that was the cheapest in the local area to find I needed to buy more litres than expected. I think I will keep an empty 3 litre milk jug with me to check delivered volume more often.
In any case the cost of oil has dropped 10% over past few weeks and diesel prices haven’t moved. I have 2 forecourts on my commute so only stick in max £10 a time until prices come down. No point buying more than needed at these prices.
LOL I remember when we hand pumped fuel into a glass jar on top of the pump & then turned on a tap. Made sure it was FULL.
Electric pumps turned to thingies on top, usually company name in lights, in place of the jar.
As usual when the price of crude oil goes up so does the price we pay at the pumps, yet that fuel has already been paid for at the lower cost to the suppliers, so give us a reason why you are ripping us off.
We all know that as soon as the price of crude oil goes down it takes a report like this one to make the petrol companies to reduce the price we pay at the pumps, but it always takes them weeks to make that reduction.
Of course we all know that the reason is that the person that watches out for crude oil price increases is a different person to the one that watches for price reductions.
Further to that it’s obvious that the person who sees the price of crude oil rise has been supplied with a hot line to the over paid CEO of the companies to give him the rejoicing news that his bank balance is about to rise.
Whereas the person who watches for the price of crude oil to go down only has to send his report via pigeon post.
God forbid that these company directors should have to actually in to the forecourts and fill up AND pay for their fuel their selves. That would never do.
ASDA fuel prices vary from 127p litre Diesel Arbroath and 125p Portlethen and Dyce 126p litre Diesel.N/E Scotland.
Not complaining, pleased they are always Best price by far.
Isn’t Asda petrol bad for engines?
where is my nearest asda please sp9 7nh
sp9 7nh
where is my nearest ASDA ?
By charging a fee for petrol prices.com it wipes out any savings you would have made at the pumps.
Hi Stuart, there is no fee to join, but some of our members who drive further or who want extra searches and search functions choose to upgrade. The majority of our users will only ever need what Basic offers them.