Asda cuts unleaded to 87.9p

Anyone know how long this Tesco offer is on please ?

In the West Midland area's many stations are selling Unleaded 95 @ 83.90p/litre.

Sainsbury's are selling Diesel @ 88.90p/litre, however Shell have picked up the challenge, and are selling Diesel at some stations @ 87.90p/litre.

The market still awaits the "official" production cuts from Opec, as a result not much movement at the moment.

If you want to improve your mph a bit without having to slow down, fry in summer or sit in 5th all day, then try only half filling your tank. Think about it for a minute - a 70 litre fill weighs 70kg. That weight is like having a dead body in your boot all day and causes a drag to your performance and fuel economy.

Another benefit is that at the moment with prices dropping, you will always be able to fill up and gain max benefit when a good offer is seen. I try to only half fill my tank unless I know I have a long journey ahead, and I am sure I gain a 'pain free' extra couple of mpg.

I keep meticulous records of petrol purchased and mileage - over years (how sad!:-) and can categorically state I have seen no substsantial difference due to differing suppliers - and that's over 20 years of records!

I do find a difference in my Yaris diesel if I use BP or SHell extra costly diesel with extra additives. The price increase is about 5p/litre or 5% and the fuel consumption improves by about 3%. Needless to say I don't buy it.

Anyone trying to make fuel consumption forecasts must:
start by filling the tank to the brim
drive around 1,000 miles of average motoring and fill up as needed.
Fill up to the brim again.
Measure the fuel used .
Work out fuel consumption.
(Fuel filling at start and finish MUST be on a level forecourt - preferably the same one and same pump to ensure changes in slope do not lead to different fill levels.Filling to brim means stopping at the first pump sitch off when full and not attepmting to fill the tank to the very top as fuel can be spilt)

Of course the same type of fuel must be used all the time .

I can assure anyone who thinks they can get an accurate figure over fewer miles and without recording all miles and fuel and supplier that they cannot. It is quite possible to obtain a figure plus or minus 10% from tankful to tankful by under or overfilling/change of route/weather/driving style. etc.

For the reord my Yaris averages 59mpg on mainly town/local driving but around 70 on motorways..

Sainsbury's have from last night cut Diesel to 88.9 pence per litre. Unleaded remains at 83.9 pence per litre.

In the BA area price of unleaded Sainsburys Bath/Frome and Asda at Frome is 84.9p

In West Midland area's Tesco has dropped Unleaded 95 to 83.90p/litre, but only at selected sites. Others are still at 84.90p/litre.
Diesel remains at 89.90p/litre.

"Market" prices declined, but only slightly as Opec member's haggled over production cuts. Market differential Petrol vs Diesel 5.75p/litre.

My local Tesco at Helston is still charging 88.9 for unleaded, on a recent trip to Penzance, Tesco there is 83.9. Ironic really as the cost of transport to Penzance is higher, being the last Tesco store in England.

Tesco doesn't care about the consumer, just about maximising its profits wherever it can- i.e where there's no local competition

My local Shell garage at Dean Row in Cheshire had dropped to 83.9 for unleaded last night making them the cheapest in my area at the moment. Hopefully it will continue to drop in the next few weeks.
Tesco in Macclesfield just 10 minutes up the road was still 87.9. What a rip-off! Does their saying of every little helps apply to their profit margin? They obviously feel the need to get that bit extra off all the motorists who fill up there!

In West Midland areas, Supermarkets and Majors are all selling Unleaded 95 @ 84.90p/litre. Diesel at 89.90p/litre. Still a 5.00p/litre differential.

The "Price War" is stalling, with the National Avg for Unleaded 95@ 87.00 p/litre and Diesel at 92.10p/litre. Difference now only 2.00p/litre approx.

"Supermarkets" buy their fuel from the Majors, and consequently are bound by prices set by the "Market". Prices advanced yesterday (9 Oct) on Opec cuts, but everyone awaits the "Exact" amount.

"Supermarkets" will retail Fuel at the break even point, to encourage shoppers to their stores, and recoup their profit in a different manner. Problem is, the "break even" point is a grey area at the moment.

I have noticed that most filling stations at Cheltenham area, including main supermarks show petrol prices at exactly the same amount ie; 89.9 p/litre. This shows that the market is simply not working, or is an underground cartel in operation here, I for one would like to know!

In August 2006 worldwide events caused "Spot Crude"(NW/Europe) to reach $78.72/Bbl. This coeincided with the "Driving Season" when demand for Petrol is high and demand for Diesel is low. This happens every year during the summer months on both sides of the Atlantic.

Consequently "Petrol" advanced at a faster rate than "Diesel" on the Products Market giving a small differential. Since then the roles have been reversered by the calming of worldwide events and the end of the "Driving Season".

With the approach of the "Winter Season" Diesel Demand increases and Petrol Demand diminishes. Petrol fell at a faster rate than Diesel on the Products Market giving a higher differential. Europe/UK refineries concentrate more on "distillates" than their US counterparts.

In 2005 the average differential between Petrol and Diesel at the Pump was 4.00p/litre, this year it will be more. Example:

London Close(NW/Europe) Oct 5th 2006.
Crude advanced to 19.38p/litre.
Petrol declined to 19.25p/litre.
Diesel advanced to 25.78p/litre.

The "Products Market" differential is 6.53p/litre. Brought about by "rumours" of production cuts by Opec members, mainly Saudi Arabia.

why has diesel suddenly become 4 or 5 pence per litre more than petrol when it was only 1 pence difference a couple of months go?

How come the site and prices haven't been updated yet? It's still showing up as Thursday on the home page.

In most cases, despite the 5p or so premium for diesel over petrol it is still much cheaper *in terms of fuel economy* to drive a diesel car. Diesel cars can be something like 25% more fuel efficient (40 mpg against 30 mpg for example), whereas a 5p price difference (89.9p against 84.9p) is less than 6%.
However, it is often the case that diesel cars can cost several hundred pounds more to buy than an equivalent petrol model, and it is here that you need to drive plenty of miles to make up the saving in fuel to pay for the extra purchase cost.

Back in 1998 Petrol cost 67p/litre. Diesel cost 68p/litre. Back in the days of DERV it cost less than Petrol, very true.

However its "Sulpher Content" was in excess of 2000ppm. Since then it has fallen to 50ppm and heading for 10ppm shortly. Reproccessing Diesel is an expensive business, and guess who bears the cost.

If you drive less than 15,000 miles a year, drive a petrol vehicle it's cheaper.

why does diesel's price never get cut the same as petrol! it might just me!
getting older but if my mind recalls derv was always cheaper than petrol by about as much as it is dearer now!

There are many Internet sources, but unfortunatley most are inaccurate to various degree's. Most cite "Spot North Sea Brent" as the price of Crude in Europe, this is not the case. Brent is just a benchmark for other crude prices.

Most refiners would never dream of producing fuel from Brent alone, it's far too good. A considerable amount of money is made long before crude gets to the refining stage. The trick is in the "blending" and other process's.

The "Products Market" controls Pump Prices, this is "bare" fuel price with no additives included. All fuel meets certain "specs", but it needs additives for combustion and performance.

It's a fast moving complex Industry, which includes complicated mathematics for the different exchange rates. Prices and Rates shift by the hour. All deals are done in US Dollar's, hence the rate importance.

It does help to be an "insider" but not impossible to get a fairly accurate price depending on the "formula's" you use.

Learjet, is there an internet source for the market prices you post sometimes? I'm a keen (amateur) follower of oil prices, and would find accurate pricing very useful. Or do you need to be an insider?

In West Midland area's Shell & BP continue to slug it out with Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury's with Unleaded 95 @ 84.90p/litre.

On the Diesel Front the supermarkets lead @ 89.90p/litre, Shell & BP are close behind @ 90.90p/litre.

On the "Market Front" Diesel maintains its 5.00p/litre differential from Unleaded and shows no sign of weakening.

London Products close (NW/Europe) 29 September 2006.
Unleaded 95 = 21.80p/litre. Diesel = 26.65p/litre.

If Opec cut "production" in the coming week it could be a different story.

in sheffield
shell station

unleaded 84.9
diesil 89.9

wot is going on not that im complaining

What a great site and forum!
I have just changed from a Vauhall Omega 2.5v6 to a Renault Laguna 1.9Dci
(120bhp) and as I do 600 miles a week I am saving as much as £35! My sons works for Morrsisons and more oftent han not I fill up at Asda or Morrisons, whay arent these supermarkets featured I wonder it can only help them get mroe custom. Anyway do I miss driving a petrol car - not one bit! Oh and the insurance and tax saving is massive too group 14 down to group 8 and tax £60 for 6 months instead of £90

On the A74 yesterday southbound the BP garage was 98.9/99.9 UL/Diesel.
They should be ashamed of themselves.

My local Sainsbury's is 84.9 unleaded and 89.9 diesel. A nearby tesco 5 miles the other direction is 90.9 unleaded and 94.9 diesel, come on Tesco sort it out

Tesco are also selling unleaded at 87.9 MINUS 5p per litre if you perchase £50 worth of graceries.

Reference more mpg using Texaco Diesel.
This depends when the tests were done and where they were done

Diesel Fuel has changed over the past twelve to eighteen months. The Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel of 2 years ago has further been reduced to an even lower level of sulphur. The lower the sulphur level, the fewer miles you get to the gallon - ask any road haulage fleet operator.

Not all companies changed to the lower level at the same time and each brand may not have changed country-wide at the same time. Some brands were selling an interim mixture of the two grades as well - all perfectly legitimate as far as Trading Standards are concerned.

If the comparison on one brand that had not changed was made against a brand or brands that had changed then of course there would be more mpg with the former.

The way to tell if the brand sold is the higher or lower is that the EN number displayed on the pump should have :2000 at the end if it is the higher sulphur content while the new, lower sulphur content has :2004 as its suffix.

I believe that the change is complete now - All in the name of the EEC's drive to reduce emmissions and save the planet.

I noted the comment about it making no differance in MPG by filling at differing stations, I have had experance of the other side of this argument. My old 106 Diesel would do MUCH more MPG if I used Tesco Diesel. My son did not belive me and borrowed the car for a few months, soon found him in Tescos filling up !

In the West Midlands area, Asda and some Tesco sites are selling Unleaded 95 @ 84.90p/litre. However on the Diesel front, "Total" now lead the pack at 87.90p/litre. The rest are still at 91.90p/litre, but not for much longer one hopes.

The big spread between Unleaded 95 and Diesel, is bringing into question Diesel "economy". The "market" spread has risen from 4.50p/litre to 5.25p/litre, which is not good.

Tesco in ayr has cut there prices to 86.9 for petrol and 89.9 for diesel

Petrol in the WN7 area has dropped again. Sainsburys is now 85.9p a litre and Asda has dropped again today to 84.9p per litre. I'm sure Sainsburys will follow suit soon.

have read with interest several comments about varying mpgs achieved from different sources of fuel. Many of them are relevant but I have not seen mentioned one of the commonest reasons.

A state of affairs exists in the oil distribution industry whereby the amount of fuel delivered into the motorist's tank can vary depending on where and when he buys the fuel.
This is despite stringent regulations on the measuring systems of forecourt fuel dispensing equipment and regular checking by Trading Standards departments.

New product leaves the refining process at a very high temperature (that is how petrol and derv is distilled) and is stored in large tanks for onward distribution. The heat in this product dissipates quite slowly as the tanks hold millions of litres. When the product is later moved to other, more local, distribution depots the act of transportation and the time delay ensures that the fuel falls to the local ambient air temperature by the time it reaches the retail customer.

However, depending on where the petrol station is situated, it is not uncommon for the product to reach the retailer directly from the refinery and for the product to be still hot when it goes into the petrol station's tanks. This can happen in areas upto a 100 miles or more radius around the big refineries like Stanlow, Grangemouth, Immingham, Fawley, Milford Haven, Coryton etc.

Once the product rests in the underground tank of the retailer, the surrounding soil will slowly absorb the heat and the retailer experiences product shrinkage - that is to say, that the product contracts and the retailer loses a proportion of the volume of stock he has bought. It is only in the last 10 years or so that the oil companies have been forced to acknowledge this truth and now product from hot sources is sold to the retailer at a notional average ambient temperature (15 degrees if my memory serves me) and the retailer is compensated on a sliding scale for the anticipated lost volume should the tanker be loaded at the refinery with product at a higher temperature. The higher the loading temperature, the more the retailer is compensated.

Now, if the unfortunate motorist goes into a petrol station on a cold winter morning where there has been a dellivery in the past few hours and it has come from a hot (refinery) source then, even though the pump may register 30 litres, by the time the customer has travelled a few miles and the cold air has whistled round the underside of the car, that 30 litres will have shrunk, thereby effectively reducing the resulting mpg.

The shrinkage below forecourts is sufficient for retailers to have brought a test case some years ago claiming considerable compensation from one or more of the major oil companies and for them to have won the case and forced the oil companies to change their practices and pay compensation for stock-loss on hot product. Stock-losses valued at several thousand pounds per annum were recorded by some retailers who brought the court case


Further difficulties in making direct comparisons of mpg lie in the fact that due to logistics a petrol station may receive hot product on one delivery and cold product the next time because the product has been sourced from different locations. For example, a delivery tanker working in South Wales might source its first delivery from Milford Haven (hot product from a refinery) and then its second load from Avonmouth (cold product, produced weeks ago) so, depending on the time of day, the same petrol station can get product at different temperatures.

You might think that the Trading Standards authorities should investigate this. They are aware of the problem because they were the first port of call of the retailers when they discovered that they were being short-changed but I understand that the authorities believe that the loss to an individual motorist is small and only affects some parts of the country (the Midlands for example have no local refineries so almost all the product sold there is cold). The necessary technology to vary the amount of delivery dependent on temperature at the forecourt pump is considered too costly to implement.

Although the loss may be small, it does affect many of you who log every milli-litre and every mile, though.

Diesel sold at all forecourts is EN590 standard. I *think* I have achieved slightly better mpg using Shell than others but not so much I'm convinced.
My mpg varies (in my Merc E320CDI) greatly depending on driving style and road conditions. I regularly travel from SE England to Cumbria, and get between 40-45 mpg. The difference between a headwind and a tailwind can make 5 mpg difference in my experience.
I'll fill up at Asda's in Carlisle tomorrow, I think!

Shell is still charging 94.9p a litre for Diesel around here, and they can because they have no competition. The nearest Asda is a 30 mile round trip away so negating any reasonable savings on the extra journey expense.

A trip to Whitby at the Weekened revealed prices still around 96p/ltr in some areas.

I used to defend the fuel companies when they came under attack because of the price of fuel, as the majority of the fuel price was and still is tax, however when the wholesale price of oil does fall, there are always a few big companies in monopoly areas who are seemingly slow to reduce the price to the end user, so i'm now revising this loyalty.

Re Timothy - Post 66

I don't understand why you can't accept that people are getting better performance from branded fuel.

I can state, hand on heart, that my MPG has improved since i switched to using Shell as opposed to Morrisons brand. I have no agenda here, i am stating what i know to be true in my experience

Also, 'almost the same' doesn't mean it is the same, hence the 'almost' part. This is what could differentiate in performance for some people out there.

Sorry to go on about this subject but below is what I would consider the definitive answer as it is provided by Fleet News : who better to have the knowledge to provide the answer.

Earlier this month from Fleet News:

"One driver has complained that the supermarket fuel is poor quality, has low detergent content and if used frequently leads to breakdowns, which in a diesel car means a new fuel pump! Is this correct?

Answer: "Basically, all fuel retailed in the UK must meet certain standards. There are British Standard definitions for every fuel type and quality, usually marked clearly on the pump.

"It is also well-known that most supplies to forecourts are blends from 'the local refinery'. While these are branded, there is a huge amount of cross-branding of the same chemical mix, with some additives mixed in, late in the process (often in the tanker itself) to support product differentiation.

"In my view, the overall level of fuel quality from UK forecourts is high and pretty uniform. It is not generally true that 'supermarket fuel is very poor quality' – much of it is almost the same as the branded liquids with the oil-company names."

Note the fact that supermarket fuel "must meet certain (BS)standards" and that much of it is "almost the same as the branded liquids".

Lastly I live in Scotland which is supplied by Grangemouth which is of course BP !! (and yes that does mean that you might be filling up with BP in a Tescos or even a Shell garage !!!!!!)

Comment 38
Nigel, if you would care to look at the articles I was commenting on Diesel not Unleaded, it is a well known fact that Unleaded varies.
To maintain accuracy with comments please read articles carefully.

Ref supermarket fuel vs BP/Shell etc
The mpg indicator in my 18 month old Nissan is accurate to +/- 1% but is always cosistent so maybe someone can explain why it recorded 78 mpg at a steady 65 mph and then recorded 76 at the same speed, both times I had filled up with Shell diesel !!! On the first journey I was carrying extra weight too !!
I am begining to wonder if those people who get an amazing 100 more miles to a tankfull should check their odometres. Diesel is diesel, it has NOTHING added to it to make it better at one forecourt than another and water does not make it less affective as the two seperate in the tank !! Re- check your figures !!!!!!

Well done to Asda for cutting prices again.
My local Tesco is STILL 94.9 for Diesel, and 92.9 for unleaded. It's funny that an Esso garage about 200yds from Tesco is cheaper on both grades by 2p and usually always is, I can't believe that people use Tesco

Until about three months ago I was a regular customer at our local Tesco petrol station. Whilst on a run one day I needed to fill up with (unleaded) fuel and did so at a Morrisons Supermarket station. I found that I was getting a far better mpg rate than at my previous supplier. I repeated the exercise several times over the coming months and the results were confirmed. I am a regular commuter only using my vehicle, a "P" registered Mitsubishi Carisma 1.6, to travel to and from work and the occasional run so the conditions were similar during the use of both sources of fuel. has anyone else noticed this disparity? It would be interesting to find out.

ASDA today (25 September 2006) announced it is cutting fuel prices again, for the fifth time in as many weeks and setting new lower pump prices at all of its 167 petrol stations across Great Britain and Northern Ireland from tomorrow morning.

ASDA’s new national fuel prices will see unleaded petrol drop by another 1p to 84.9 pence per litre with diesel falling by 2p to 89.9 pence per litre at all its forecourts.

Unlike other retailers ASDA’s national fuel prices mean that motorists filling up at the pumps don’t pay a premium if there is no competition in the area.

This follows on from the supermarket’s price drop last week. This latest cut sees unleaded petrol pump prices drop to their lowest since June 2005.

Unleaded has now fallen by 13 pence per litre since the beginning of August.

Further falls in the cost of petrol are enabling ASDA to pass on these cost savings to its customers.

To make sure all its customers benefit from the lower costs, ASDA has once again reduced the prices at all its forecourts to the same level, irrespective of where customers live and the prices set by local competitors.

On top of this price reduction, all ASDA credit and store cardholders are currently entitled to a further two pence per litre of fuel discount when paying with their card.

ASDA trading director, Andy Brem, said: “At ASDA unlike other retailers, you pay exactly the same price for your fuel wherever you fill up at the pumps. The latest price cut is a further example of ASDA making motoring more affordable, it’s our fifth move in as many weeks and illustrates our commitment to passing on cost savings to our customers.”

Re post 58, supermarket is not poorer quality, how does it meet the same standard!!!!!.
Higher percentages of water, total rubbish.

In the West Midlands area, "Shell" have now joined the battle along with BP, Tesco and Asda. Unleaded 95 @ 85.90p/litre. Diesel @ 91.90p/litre.

The National Avg for Unleaded 95 is 89.30p/litre. Diesel 94.30p/litre.
The spread between the two fuels is 5.00p/litre.

In the "cut-price" market the same spread is 6.00p/litre. Which may give you a clue to what's actually going on.

I have heard it stated that diesel sold by supermarkets is of poorer quality IE having considerably larger persentages of water content.
My Soninlaw who records his milage tells me that he gets a higher MPG from diesel purchased from BP and Shell stations !!!!!!!!!!!!

Regards,
John.

Regarding BP's Premium Diesel... in my area (SE England), BP is never the cheapest for regular diesel anyway (just did a 20 mile search and no sign of BP), so I always avoid of BP unless I'm desperate.
I remember a news report a few months ago then mentioned BP's fuel tended to be more expensive than their competitors' and when asked a company spokesman said 'we don't comment on our pricing'.

Some Shell garages (often on the Petrolprices radar) have 'Diesel Extra', some don't. Does anyone know if that's being phased out or if it's any different?

in relation to points 35,36,37,38. i have a 2ltr rover 600 powered by a honda engine i used tesco fuel for approx 9 months and found towards the end my car run worse and worse then i switched to bp and within a couple of fills found i was getting better fuel consuption and increased power. by the way i always fill my tank as far as possible and a little bit more i found that this would give me increased mpg.

I can honestly say I have never found a difarence in supermarket fuel and named brands, be it unleaded or derv no mater what car I have driven.

Got to agree on Diesel prices - I am sure that diesel used to be cheaper than unleaded!!

Hopefully the 5 or 6p per litre will reduce.

Where does the price of Premium Diesel come from - this seems to be another 7p on top of diesel. Ever since the fire in Hertfordshire Total have scrapped their premium diesel, which means that BP have no real competition. Total's price was always within a couple of pence or standard diesel.

According to the BBC site oil fell again today and is now around $59 - who wants to bet that the government will now impose their tax increases that they put on hold??

Tesco and Asda neck and neck in the Black Country at 85.9 for Unleaded.

I read somewhere that whilst Asda and Sainsbury's change their prices on a national directive, Tesco store managers have local discretion, but are expected to be the lowest or equal lowest Unleaded in a 5 mile radius of their store in question.

Is that so? It appears to be the case around here.

Re point 30, its because tesco offering 5ppl discount if you spend over £50.

Learjet has hit the nail on the head, why such a hugh price diefference, whats has changed to cause this, the popularity of diesels, and this sh*ty governments stance on diesels.