Unleaded prices dropped over 4 pence per litre (ppl) throughout August, settling with an average price of just under £1.40 per litre. Prices as low as this were last seen back at the start of the year, during the 3rd week of January.
There was also good news for diesel drivers, as August opened with an average price of £1.49 before falling to £1.44 at the end of the month.
Currently, unleaded and diesel prices average 139.0ppl and 143.5ppl respectively. Although we saw unleaded prices at these levels early in the year, it was back in July 2023 that diesel was priced at a similar level.
Morrisons is leading the supermarkets with an average unleaded price of under 136ppl and diesel at 140.4ppl. The supermarket averages are all very close, with unleaded and diesel all within 1ppl.
Drivers in Northern Ireland continue to have the lowest-priced unleaded in the whole of the UK, although the price difference with fuel in the North East of England and Wales has closed significantly since May, when pump prices reached their year high. The gap was 5-6ppl in May and is down to 1.5ppl now.
At the start of August, we predicted a drop in pump prices for at least two weeks due to a strong pound and falling Brent crude oil prices. Brent opened August at $78 a barrel and remained in the $75-80 range for the whole month. On the 3rd of September, Brent crude settled at $73 a barrel, a price last seen on the 12th of December, 2023.
Through August the price oscillated within the $75-$80 range. This may lead to pricing at the pump varying depending on when stations purchase or have deliveries. It feels unlikely that we will see large movements either up or down for the next week to 10 days. If the price can hold below $75 a barrel for a significant period, we may continue to see some more price drops.
Do you live near a Morrisons fuel station? Are they leading the way near you? Let us know in the comments.
But all supermarkets have doubled their margins on fuel since Covid! So I can’t say I’m impressed at all!
We should prepare for quite a jump in October when the Government add a huge fuel duty hike.
I agree
Unleaded E10 is only £1.32 near us in Rossendale/Burnley area but is as low as £129.9 on Anglesey at Texaco and Essar, on an island, how do they manage that??
Morrisons now charge + 20p for super unleaded petrol. It used to be + 7p. More rip off than before. So I buy from Tesco now.
She’ll in Braintree and Esso at Capel St Mary on the A12 near Ipswich is £1-38.9 for diesel. Those two garages have been 10 to 14p cheaper than their rivals for many many weeks. The Ipswwich one for around a year. Every pump has long queues, sometimes out on to the A112 dual carriageway.
Morrisons have dropped by 2ppl this week locally, the nearest Sainsburys has not changed and they were usually the cheapest
There are seven cheaper stations than Morrisons in this area, with one local Esso station coming in at 131.5ppl. It seems to be dropping weekly, a very welcome change.