Asda announce petrol price cut

Hard-pressed motorists received some cheer today when a major supermarket chain announced a cut in petrol prices.

Asda said that from today it was cutting prices by up to 2p a litre.

The company added that those filling up at Asda would pay no more than 130.7p a litre for petrol and no more than 135.7p a litre for diesel.

The move follows the announcement that rival supermarket Tesco was cutting the cost of 3,000 products as part of a £500 million campaign.

Asda said it was responding to the drop in wholesale fuel prices.

The company's petrol trading director, Andy Peake, said: "We know the price of petrol matters to our customers which is why we aim to be the first to pass on cuts in the cost of crude. That's again what we're doing today."

The AA said the prospect of a fuel pump price war would provide UK drivers with some relief, with average petrol prices just 1.6p short of the all-time record.

UK petrol currently averages 135.87p a litre and diesel 140.11p. A year ago, petrol averaged 115.74p and diesel 118.48p. The all-time record, set in early May this year, was 137.43p for petrol and 143.04p for diesel.

The AA said petrol was 20.13p a litre and diesel 21.63p a litre more expensive than a year ago.

AA president Edmund King said: "Drivers in towns with Asda fuel stations will very much welcome the passing on of lower fuel costs, and we will wait to see how other retailers respond.

"With nights drawing in and autumn on the way, car fuel consumption will rise. Any respite from increasingly unaffordable fuel costs is therefore a great help. However, there are big questions that need to be asked of the oil and fuel market, such as why Brent crude has been 10 dollars a barrel over-valued, according to oil market experts."

PA