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Petrol price falls by 2p a litre in September

Kit Klarenberg
Written By:
Kit Klarenberg
Posted:
Updated:
05/10/2015

The average price of petrol continued to fall in September, with another 2 pence a litre being shaved off at the pumps, according to the latest RAC Fuel Watch data.

This means filling up a 55-litre family car is now £1 cheaper than it was at the start of September. Diesel stayed almost the same around the 110p-a-litre mark (109.86p on 1 September to 110.36p on 30 September), but the petrol/diesel price flip was reversed after nearly two months of diesel being cheaper than unleaded.

The RAC Fuel Watch report for September revealed the average price of diesel returned to being more expensive than unleaded on Friday 25 September (petrol 110.01p v diesel 110.27p), having fallen below petrol on Wednesday 29 July for the first time since summer 2001.

Since the start of July, the average forecourt price of unleaded has dropped 7p a litre from 117p to the current 109.63p, making a tank £4 cheaper. Diesel, however, has plummeted 10p a litre from 120.63p to 110.36p, giving drivers a saving of £5.65 every time they fill up from empty.

HMRC oil duty statistics for August show combined sales of petrol and diesel were 1.8 per cent up on July at 3.975bn litres. Petrol sales (1.476bn) were the same as July but down 5.6 per cent on July 2014, whereas diesel (2.499bn) was up 2.7 per cent on the month before and 2.8 per cent ahead of the previous July, making for the second highest number of litres ever sold, only behind November 2014 when 2,501bn litres were sold.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “The cost of wholesale unleaded fell 2 per cent in September, hopefully paving the way for further reductions – we predict at least another 2p-a-litre saving to be passed on by retailers within the next fortnight.

“The continued lower prices of both petrol and diesel are a result of ongoing low oil prices. The cost of a barrel of crude has now been below $50 since 31 August and is 3 per cent cheaper than it was at the start of September, having come down from $48.98 a barrel to $47.31. The effect of this on pump prices would have been greater had the pound not lost a little ground on the dollar in September.”

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