After the last few weeks of price cuts, a lower oil price and falling wholesale costs, motoring giant the AA has announced that it thinks that fuel prices could be lower and by up to 8p a litre for both petrol and diesel, something which the RAC echoes.
Prices have been falling steadily for a month now, but the drops have slowed recently, and there is not enough movement according to AA president Edmund King, who said: “We need to see the true price of fuel reflected at the pumps.”
Just in time for Christmas
The RAC has called for it to be “Christmas at the pumps” and called retailers to cut prices by up to 8p a litre on unleaded and 6p a litre in diesel, as savings haven’t been passed along at the pumps.
Over the last month, the oil price has fallen very quickly, to lows not seen since October last year, and prices sat at approximately 118ppl for unleaded and 122ppl for diesel, compared to the current average we have of 124.1ppl and 134.5ppl for petrol and diesel respectively.
In November the average price of petrol dropped 5p, the steepest drop since January 2015, but it still seems that retailers have not passed on savings, as the RAC believes that the price should be up to 8ppl lower for unleaded and 6ppl lower for diesel. The RAC thinks that retailers need to play fair and lower prices even further, and it is even hoped that prices could fall below 120ppl for petrol, taking it back to prices we last saw in February this year.
Recent cuts
Last Friday, Asda announced a new price cap nationally of 116.7ppl and 127.7ppl for petrol and diesel respectively, bringing down the prices even further. Since the 26th October, Asda has dropped the price of unleaded fuel by 11ppl and diesel by 7ppl
Asda’s Senior Fuel Buyer, Dave Tyrer said “With Christmas just around the corner, we’re pleased we can do our bit to make our customers’ hard-earned cash go a little further. Our new national price cap of 116.7ppl on unleaded and 127.7ppl on diesel will be welcomed by the millions of drivers across the country and put money back in their pockets.”
Morrisons, Sainsburys and Tesco also matched the 2ppl price drop, all promising to cut prices at the pumps by up to 2ppl.
David Pegg, Fuel Buying Manager for Sainsbury’s, said: “As we head into December and the run up to Christmas we are committed to helping our customers live well for less, whether they’re stocking up on groceries and gifts or refuelling their cars. That’s why we’re dropping the price of both unleaded petrol and diesel by 2p per litre across every single one of our forecourts from tomorrow. Whether in-store or at the pumps, customers know they will get fantastic value with Sainsbury’s”.
Ashley Myers, Morrisons Head of Fuel, said: “With Christmas just round the corner, this saving will help many motorists afford the cost of the festive season.”
At Morrisons, if you spend over £50 in store, you can get a huge 10ppl off every litre, leading to a massive saving on your fill up.
Why the price difference between petrol and diesel?
There is currently a significant price disparity between petrol and diesel due to numerous factors. Diesel is generally more expensive at this time of year anyway as diesel and heating oil are from the same “part of the barrel” of crude oil, but the higher oil price and weakened pound mean the normally minute effect has been exaggerated drastically. The wholesale price hasn’t dropped that much for diesel until recently, and so the delay of savings being passed down to the motorist has affected all retailers.
Mark Todd, the co-founder of energyhelpline, backed up this point saying “When diesel and heating oil prices rise, energy prices tend to follow. The biggest factor that pushes up household energy prices is the price of natural gas which is up around 50% this year. No wonder we are seeing price rises right now. The biggest factor pushing up the price of diesel and heating oil is the oil price which has also been on the rise. While the oil and gas markets are not identical, they tend to follow similar patterns driven by global supply and demand and similar producers, eg. Russia, Saudi Arabia and the oil giants like Exxon and Shell. So when one goes up don’t be surprised to see the other follow.”
It looks like there will still be a disparity between petrol and diesel for the next month or so, as the slow trickle from barrel to wholesaler to the retailer can take a long time, but come Christmas we could see a drop of up to 8ppl on both petrol and diesel according to AA research.
Do you think prices should be lowered? How much would a price drop help you at Christmas? Let us know in the comments below
And still the scandal of prices at motorway services is allowed to continue. Until this is tackled no one has any faith in the industry to regulate itself.
The AA and the RAC are spent forces in attempting to bring prices in line with what suppliers are paying per barrel.
If I get caught out and need the motorway services I simply put the minimum in that will get me off to a nearby residential service station so I can fill up. 80 litres at £1.279 locally against £1.56 (or more) on a motorway is a variable of £20 a tank, that’s worth over 120 loaded miles for me and a serious loss of income!
if planning a journey on the motorway check maps to find a Tesco, ASDA etc close by the motorway, then simply nip off and fill up without being robbed blind.
Many modern cars will do well above 500 miles to a tank so most trips can be done on one tank so no need to fill up on a motorway, why get ripped off, I can`t remember the last time I put any fuel in a car on the motorway.
What’s missing from this article is the related price per barrel comparison for each change in the price. Without that one could quite easily say the cost per litre should be 20p lower. Give ALL the relevant cost factors before making any ‘bland’ statement on how much lower the price should be.
Absolutely right! Seriously bad piece of analysis and journalism!
Show a graph of price per barrel and price per litre. This would show a disproportionate period of price reduction for petrol/diesel. However, when the price goes up, the increase is reflected immediately at the pumps. So much for buying ahead!
Its like electricity , broadband , gas – they will never give the consumer a decent shake of the stick.
Shafted at both ends – such is the way of life.
Standing charges should have been abolished 20 years ago but still we put up with this nonsense!
Politicians and bankers are still at it with expenses and fiddling the books and so it goes on!
Only violent conflict will solve it – Paris anyone?
The French won’t stand for being ripped off by their crooked politicians they soon take to the streets.
It’s the only way to get them to take us seriously, when big business comes to a standstill that gets their attion very quickly. Block the M1 off !
That’s what’s wrong with the UK, we just accept prices and pay up.
Have you seen “Peterloo” yet? Do you remember the miners strike?
Maybe these events showed us just what depths the privileged will stoop to
Bit like fighting for Brexit. (what fight) We have become soft and flabby as a nation with no balls to stick up for what is right. We are lazy and just accept what the rich gits, the EU and politicians feed us. One day it may change, but the wakeup call has not yet sounded. The real Brexit bell has fallen off its hinges. This time the EU wins with Germany at the helm! Petrol prices are just one of many rip offs. Glad I am old!
Most Southerners would welcome blocking the road to “The North”. No, block the M25 at five or six points. That would hurt them.
tried this “public disorder” thing once…. believe it was called the Poll Tax.. Saw the judge on a few ocaisions, nice bloke, but I still went out and protested.
My best effort was to glue up the padlock on the shop front Poll Tax collection office so they couldnt open… and would you believe that was where and when the judge ordered me to pay my arrears!
They took the standing charge off and added it to the cost elec&gas then put it back on and never reduced thecost
That sounds right for Britian
Fuel isn’t expensive , It’s the tax added onto it that makes it cost so much. Remove the VAT and fuel tax, problem solved .About time people woke up to this rip off taxation as only a very small percentage is actually used to repair and maintain the roads what the government decide to squander the extra tax left over needs to be fully explained and accounted for.Most probably index linked gold plated pensions for government and civil service officials .
As the government is trying to keep taxation down for higher paid people, they have to raise money from somewhere, where better than the rich motorist!!!!!!
The fare structure on public transport, such that to travel the car is the cheapest option. Since we are a captive traveller, we have to pay the extortionate taxes to subsidise the high earners tax reductions!!
Seems that prices are quick to go up but a lot slower to go down this is not right come on be fair!.
Just back from Europe. Fuel prices are also high there but, as usual, Diesel is still cheaper then petrol. Why is Diesel so high in the UK?
Because the government make more off Diesel drivers they encouraged us to get Diesel now tax us to death and devalue our vehicles
Sloan, your right and I also think they try to condition people into thinking that its normal to pay 1.30 a litre so any little drop is a bonus or if it goes up well its normal to pay 1.30 so 138.9 is ok? An while we’re here, were did this racket of 0.9 ,0.7 pence come from you can use it so even 0.7 will be rounded up to 1, I know it works out over a 100 litres or more but still a con.
Remember a guy called Gordon Brown who having encouraged us to go Diesel then increased duty on diesel so he had more tax money to waste.
Ah yes that scotch man. Bet he doesn’t pay for his own fuel, how’s your pension going Mr Brown cos some thiving A hole robbed mine. Thought scotch were tight with money? Or is that only their own?
Scotch !!!! Scottish ya plank.Typical anti Scottish English clown..Grow up idiot..shed lol great thick plank name
Total F–K wit
No they don’t.
Les, you can thank the “Greenies” for this as they are complete nutters whose only aim in life is to get us all driving EV’s and destroying all forms of energy generation by hydrocarbons. The government looked at their armageddon theory of global disaster and decided that Diesel was no longer a less polluting fuel than Petrol but an even worse polluter, and hey presto a great excuse to increase taxation on Diesel Fuel
Les it is obvious – almost everything you buy in the shops and elsewhere has been transported by lorry or ship at some time and the higher the price of diesel the higher the price of the goods in the shops. The higher the price of the goods in the shops the more VAT the government rakes in. QED !!
Can someone start a petition to get these prices down. Again the Petrol chemical industry is squeezing the public again!
Wasn’t that what Petrol Prices.com was supposed to be about?
Oops, that’s all my posts taken down:-)
FFUK is the only current campaigner on our behalf. (That I know of). (Google it).
Morrisons can offer 10ppl off fuel but only if you spend £50 plus. As a single person, (or an old couple), I never spend £50, so in effect I`m subsidizing people who have to spend £50 in order to feed their families.
If they can discount 10ppl for one why not for all?
On differentials Morrisons diesel used to be 2ppl more than petrol. It is suddenly 10ppl more now, why is this? Has the price of producing diesel suddenly rocketed? I think not.
Before any customer offer is in operation the price of fuel always increases in the run up to the offer.
Check it. I have because it affects me as a small spender.
The supermarket loses money selling fuel with a 10ppl discount. If you don’t spend enough on groceries to make it worthwhile for them you won’t get the discount. The article answers your question on the current differential of Derv/petrol.
Don’t accept that diesel/petrol disparity of 11/12 ppl is fair. It has never been such a high difference before.
Deisel was always cheaper in the past and recently became level priced.
Its nothing but a rip-off
I totally agree Lawrence the excuse on winter fuel oil pushing up prices doesn’t wash not when winter hasn’t even properly started…. 10-12p of a difference is just sheer profiteering especially when last month they where saying the price of petrol and diesel to retailers where almost identical
Here in Thailand ,petrol is about 55 pence per litre.
I’m a courier and I’m not seeing these so-called reductions, I think most service stations are now franchises and it comes across to me that they please themselves what prices they can get away with!
Best I can find at present is my local Sainsbury’s and that’s still £1.279, most other non-motorway stations of all brands are still over £1.32 for diesel with motorways ripping us all off terribly!.
Supermarkets can lower fuel prices because they buy in bulk and the petrol and diesel is not the same quality as shell or BP thats probably why its cheaper but i think all fuel should be cheaper but the goverment make billions on tax
Our local Asda has had diesel at up to 11p a litre more than petrol!
I Live in Consett Co. Durham Morrisons and Tesco are charging £1.24 & £1.23 for petrol. 10 miles away the same stores are £1,17 & £1.18
At Consett we don’t seem to get the same deals maybe because we don’t have an ASDA here, as they are noted for lower prices !!! Asda Come to CONSETT
Prices in my local Sainsbury Sydenham is 5ppl higher than in Greenwich the reason given by staff was that due to no competition we charge more.
This article is blaming the retailer, which gives the impression that it is the forecourt that is holding the price high and not passing the saving on to the consumer. there is very little profit for the garage forecourt itself. It is in fact the fuel suppliers that are not passing the fall in price per barrel of oil down the line to the consumer. All the big oil companies are interested in is their huge profit margins. Instead of passing savings on to the consumer and you can guarantee all will always raise the prices at the first increase in the cost per barrel, they are never slow going that way with the price.
Mark, most of the cost ( around 70% ) of the cost of fuel is Tax + VAT.
It is the Govt that is ripping us off , not the Petro chemical companies or the Petrol Stations
Some of these comments make me laugh. Where do you think the government will get its revenue if they cut fuel tax? Government cash doesn’t grow on trees. It has to come from us…one way or the other. They are already struggling to fund all the freeloading and misuse of free services in this country.
Personally, if they are serious about controlling traffic volumes and pollution, they should double the tax on fuel. That will force people to think twice about single occupancy journeys… and maybe kick start them to use public transport more….forcing that to become more cost effective. Commercial use fuel can recover tax through their accounts.
The government should make it an offence not to have a fare sharing passenger in your car. 😏
Ernie, So increase tax by 100% on fuel!!! that will have the opposite effect on revenue raised for the government. Not only will people use their vehicles less but the cost of living will rocket due to the goods transportation that this country relies upon. The government will also have to raise revenue from other sources to fill the shortfall so everyone will suffer either by direct or indirect taxation.
Thankfully extremists thoughts such as yours will always fall on deaf ears (unless you are a member of the Green Party).
NO SO WHERE I LIVE, BUS EVERY TWO HOURS AND AN HOUR TO GO 11MILES
need a car to do any desent shopping, as most shop here are mainly coffee bars
Ernie will be ok on his milk float. As delboy says no bus near me some money counter buggered that up, the nearest bus stop to my house is 3 miles away in town. We had a local bus service that was well used but our local companie went out of business after 112 years because council cut backs and stage chorch took over an with in weeks it wasn’t viable, trouble with public transport is, it’s not viable as a money making racket that stage chorch like because it needs to run even if 6 people need it. So only major towns an city’s would make you any profit an any one else can swivel or buy a nice diesel car!
ill thought out comment… Would you get into a car with a stranger,
We haven’t got the Public Transport structure in place yet, so that wouldn’t work..
Think about what you say before writing it
they are still stealing from us, & they get away with it ,the government do nothing about it again.
When I purchased my last car 2011. I was pushed towards diesel by the government, also the fact that diesel cars do more miles per gallon.
Now if you drive a diesel car you are swimming against the tide I believe the government could be behind the high diesel price , has anyone taken note how the figures for new diesel car sales have dropped!
As long as my diesel Octavia does 63+ MPG I’ll stick with it.
So does mine Terence, and it s a decent car to drive also
Why is diesel suddenly so much dearer than petrol? I understand about diesel and heating oil both coming from ‘the same part of the barrel’ but it always has done, and I have never before seen this disparity between diesel and petrol prices. Even more surprising when according to my science teacher, petrol needs more refining than diesel, which is why diesel always used to be cheaper (especially when the government was trying to covert us all to diesel drivers!!!).
Get a new science teacher. Your one is talking nonsense!
If diesel is so bad why is it that newest and largest ship we have in our navy is diesel
Probably find it was ordered when we had our own North Sea Oil. Today they would probably order Nuclear Power.
It’s about time that the public starts to stand up to these high prices we pay in this country and do something about it, but the public should understand that we all need to make a stand together and back the RAC and The AA which would give them more help to achieve what they are asking
The Esso near me has put the price up by 2p a litre it’s now £136.9. The Esso two miles down the road is £134.9, and the Asda which is less than a quarter of a mile away from it is £116.9, and still the Muppets fill up at the Esso garages with the higher prices.
I paid 1.49ppl for Shell V power diesel because I intend to keep the car for a while and have been told that premium diesel is best for the engine. The mark up over standard diesel was 20ppl and this seems to be yet another rip off as when I travel to France the mark up is less than half of that.
1 tank of premium in 4 or 5 fills ups is more than adequate.
Isn’t strange that in Holland Diesel is significantly cheaper than petrol!
So what do the likes of Asda and Morrisons pay for the fuels? I’m sure a lot of their store product prices could be reduced but this would mean lost profit. It’s to easy to point the finger at others overcharging. As o the AA and RAC how much do they charge for their membership and when compared to others can they not see how to reduce costs.
We’ve started to see lower prices today with my local station selling diesel at 129.9 for diesel and 117.9 for unleaded. A 12 pence difference!!! Why are we diesel users still being penalised for having followed the previous governments advice. We’ve already lost out by having the value of our cars slashed through no fault of our own to a level where we can’t afford to replace them and now suffer the double whammy of excessive prices for fuel.
Yet again we are being ripped off. When the price of oil rises the pump price rise is immediate, but when the oil price drops it takes an age to be passed on. The excuses used everytime are so weak as to be laughable.
The sky is blue, water looks clear…petrol prices are higher than they should be, this is news still? I gave up caring after remembering moaning about £1 a gallon prices….(yes a gallon), its now more than that a litre.
Back in the good old days……..heh
Surprise, surprise. Who would have thought that fuel outlets were not lowering their prices when the cost of oil plummets.
And that our glorious elected representatives continue to allow them to massively rip their electorate off in this way.
Three cheers to decency, honesty and caring for others.
When I worked in the oil industry 30 years ago, diesel was cheaper than petrol & it didn’t go up in price because of people using heating oil in the winter. If Mark Todd believes what he’s saying, then he must be in the pockets of the oil companies, because that’s what they would like us to believe.It’s rip off time again. However, the government are just as culpable, they heavily tax the fuel & then again tax the tax with VAT. It’s legalised theft.
Much less demand for diesel 30 years ago Clive. It’s called market forces.
The present disparity between petrol and diesel prices is down to pure greed helped by the ongoing war against diesels propagated by MP’S with all the technical talent of a Tesco turnip.Diesel is not more expensive to produce, petrol is top of the food chain and the difference in price was down to a particular idiot of a chancellor, Gordon Brown who raised the tax on diesel in one of his phony green tax budgets. However this was not as high as 10pence a litre which is being charged in the Dunfermline area. Retailers are simply cashing in as usual. The minute crude rises the prices go up but when the price of crude drops it always takes time to filter through which is the standard excuse by the meally mouthed oil companies.
So much wrong in one post. Petrol is “top of the food chain”. What does that even mean? No, diesel isn’t cheaper to produce. No, diesel Duty used to be higher than petrol (apart from ULSD) until they were aligned in 2008. Oil companies don’t set the fuel price (except at the stations they operate).
In Spalding petrol is122-124p per litre – 12 miles down the road in Boston the price is 116-117p per litre……now who is kidding who here then ?
Yellow Vest outside Westminster, anyone??!!
Macron crumbles, so will May!!!!!
NO fuel should be much dearer to help reduce the number of polluting cars using our congested roads
I seem to remember that in recent years the price often goes down in November and then, surprise, surprise on the run-up to Christmas it goes up again.
That wouldn’t be because most people are doing more mileage, so using more fuel would it? Surely not, it must be just coincidence.
It’s this weak country the uk we don’t stand together like the french
The unusual difference between petrol and diesel wholesale prices is due to relatively low demand for petrol on both sides of the Atlantic pushing its wholesale price down, whereas some short term supply difficulties for diesel (refinery problems in Germany) are pushing the wholesale price across Europe up. It’s a supply and demand effect, not a conspiracy.
Don’t start getting all factual…
It’s just good old rip off Britain again, just the same as if you drive in the city with a non compliant diesel, they charge on top of the congestion charge. Making people pay more money doesn’t fix pollution problems ! Just affects the poorest people who can’t afford new cars. Maybe if we weren’t ripped off and ignored so badly by our so called government we wouldn’t be in this mess called brexit either. I also can remember when diesel was half the price of petrol.
8p less!!!! it should be over 70p less if you factor in oil in 2008 was circa $145 a barrel and £1.18 on average at the pump and recently it was circa $60 a barrel but on average £1.30 at the pump…..why????…..i’ve written to my MP a week ago for an explanation, who has subsequently written to the Minister who deals with this, i’m still waiting a reply 🙁
Wow! The one person in the UK who hasn’t heard of fuel duty and VAT. The duty and VAT on the duty amount to 69.54 pence per litre so how do get to a 70p reduction Einstein?
So much for Asda’s price cap, I paid 118.7ppl yesterday in Birmingham – 2ppl ABOVE the alleged cap
Canada prices fell from 136.9 CDN in August to 1.10 CDN by beginning of November. Funny that.. if they can why not us?
Still can’t accept the published arguments (the time of year, heating oil etc) for the disparity between the cost of petrol and diesel. I’ve just done an 800 mile round trip and the disparity of 12p per litre countrywide, smacks of price fixing. Oddly enough it’s the Dick Turpin motorway filling stations that manage to get the gap down to a mere 9 pence a litre!
The author of the article says:. “When diesel and heating oil prices rise, energy prices tend to follow. The biggest factor that pushes up household energy prices is the price of natural gas which is up around 50% this year. No wonder we are seeing price rises right now.” NOT SO
In the last 6 months
Brent crude has fallen 18%.
Wholesale natural gas has increased +41%
In the last 3 months
Brent crude -17%
Natural gas +48%
There should be a price drop. Fuel prices just continue to rise and it’s not even publicly reported. Do we have to take to the streets, like the French?
Shell garage in my local town £1.28
Shell garage 10 miles away £1.17.
when I pointed this out to our local garage manager he said.
“the prices will remain higher, as long as people will pay them”
Fuel retailers are continually ripping the public off, it’s about time they showed a bit of xmas spirit and treated us!!!
The oil companies are very good at increasing prices as soon as wholesale prices rise, but when they fall they’re very slow at passing it on to the motorists. Or am I just being cynical?
Rip Off Britain comes to mind !! When the cost of a barrel of oil rises the consumer has to pay almost immediately BUT when the reverse occurs the -retailers are SLOW to reduce prices As I stated RIP OFF BRITAIN
When I was on the Continent fuel price from low to high were : bio diesel, diesel, super diesel, then petrol low and high octane. For more than a decade U.K. diesel price has been higher than petrol … surely this was at U K Government dictate, rather than ‘market forces’. Personally ( thankfully ) I’ve found diesel mpg to be at least 50% greater than petrol, and the slower diesel engine means less wear and longer life … 200k on my first and 130+k on my current diesel without a hiccough … and about 600 miles between fuel stops !
ALL tax on both petrol and diesel should be reduced so that the tax element does not exceed twenty percent of the actual price at the pump. The existing seventy to eighty percen tax element is scandalous