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Supermarkets cut petrol prices

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
04/05/2017

Morrisons has sparked a petrol price war as it cut the cost of diesel and unleaded fuel by up to 2p a litre across all of its filling stations.

The cost of diesel will fall by 2p a litre while unleaded will be cut by 1p a litre from today at Morrisons’ 333 forecourts across the UK. The supermarket giant said the recent strengthening of the pound against the dollar has helped bring wholesale costs down slightly.

Sainsbury’s was quick to follow suit announcing it will cut the price of diesel by 2p a litre and unleaded by 1p a litre across its 308 forecourts from tomorrow.

And Tesco waded into the petrol price war as it cut the price of unleaded petrol by 1p and diesel by 2p a litre across its 500 stations from this afternoon.

The price cuts come as RAC Fuel Watch data reveals pump prices rose by more than a penny a litre in April in spite of the fall in the price of oil and the slight rebound in the pound.

RAC said retailers are now in a position to pass on a cut to motorists, particularly as its data showed the UK average price of unleaded went up 1.44p a litre to 118.85p and the average diesel price by 1.17p to 120.53p.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “April wasn’t a good month for fuel prices but motorists have every right to expect an early May petrol and diesel cut from retailers of 2p a litre at the very least.

“The combination of a lower oil price and a 4% rise in the value of the pound has made it far cheaper for retailers to buy in their fuel. In the interest of transparency this saving should be passed on to motorists on the forecourt in the next few days.”

Williams said it is good news for motorists filling up at Morrisons, but he said there is scope for retailers to go deeper as “a penny on unleaded is simply not enough”.

He said: “This is just the start and we are confident that the move will be followed by other supermarkets. It would be good if they surprised motorists with a bullish 3p a litre cut.”