Asda sparks petrol price war with 3p per litre cut

Asda today sparked a petrol price war after slashing 3p off a litre of fuel.Tesco, Sainbury’s and 
Morrisons followed suit as 
unleaded dropped to 135.7p a litre at Asda. And diesel fell to 139.7p a litre as the chain boasted it had one price on all forecourts.

But rivals set prices ­regionally, which will make filling up a ­postcode lottery.

Asda said it was passing on savings to drivers after the cost of oil fell.

It said: “We always aim to be the first retailer to drop prices and the last to put them up.” However, the AA says that despite the new price war 
between store chains, it still costs £2 more to fill a family hatchback than it did a month ago.

The group’s Fuel Price Report shows the average cost of unleaded petrol has soared by 4.69p to 140.21p a litre since mid August, while diesel has gone up 4.15p to 144.60p a litre.

Drivers have been hammered by rising petrol prices in recent months. Earlier this month the motoring organisation said that the cost of petrol has risen by 9 pence-per-litre since July as refiners’ profit margins reach a five-year high.

The rise means that between the start of July and the start of September the cost of filling a typical 50-litre tank in a car like a Vauxhall Astra rose by £4.45.

Asda said it was reacting to falls in the cost of petrol on the wholesale market.

The cost of oil has fallen in the past ten days, with Brent crude in London sliding six per cent to around $110 a barrel – although this is still 25 per cent higher than in mid-June.

Earlier this year the Office of Fair Trading launched a review into whether reductions in the price of crude oil are being passed on to motorists.