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Petrol prices see third biggest fall in 25 years

PETROL pump prices have plunged in the last month with the mid-November to mid-December fall the third biggest in 25 years, according to the AA.

By The Newsroom
Published 19th Dec 2014, 15:55 BST
Petrol pump prices have plunged in the last month. Picture: Getty
Petrol pump prices have plunged in the last month. Picture: Getty
Petrol pump prices have plunged in the last month. Picture: Getty

And the fall does not include the very latest 2p-a-litre petrol reduction by the four biggest supermarkets which took effect on Wednesday.

The AA said that between mid-November and mid-December UK average petrol prices fell 6.6p to 116.32p a litre.

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Only the October-November 2008 fall of 11.5p a litre and the August-September 2006 dip of 7.9p have been greater than the most recent decline.

The AA also said that average diesel prices have fallen 5.27p a litre to 122.16p over the mid-November to mid-December 2014 period.

Currently, south west England has the cheapest petrol, at an average of 116.1p a litre, while East Anglia has the dearest, at 117.1p.

The cheapest diesel is to be found in Northern Ireland, at 121.8p a litre, with the most-expensive in Scotland, at 122.7p a litre.

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The RAC has suggested the new year could usher in petrol pump prices below £1 but the AA said this possibility remained “remote”.

AA president Edmund King said: “A 6.6p-a-litre drop in the price of petrol releases a potential £3 million-a-day switch of consumer spending from fuel forecourts to other businesses.

“It will also lower the cost of transporting goods, hopefully also to be passed on to customers.”

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Mr King went on: “However, the parallels with the 2008 crash, albeit that was a market in freefall while this one has been engineered by Opec and could be stopped any time, carry a warning from the ghost of Christmas past.

“In 2009, a new year brought a new assessment of the market and pump prices started to rise again on January 5.”

Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Tesco have all reduced their petrol by 2p a litre and their diesel by 1p a litre.

The Asda cut means its customers are now paying no more than 110.7p a litre for petrol, with the company’s diesel costing 117.7p a litre.

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