The US/Iran deal to open the Strait of Hormuz is already having an effect at the pumps.
Raven’s Budgens Abridge in Essex, for example, is promoting the fact that its regular unleaded is down to 155.9ppl while its diesel is down to 169.99ppl.
A post on Facebook describes the prices as ‘Hot, real hot’ and encourages drivers to brave Abridge’s traffic lights to get to the forecourt and fill up.
Owner Goran Raven says: “For once we have something to thank Mr Trump for, as these prices are the lowest they have been for months.”
Raven says every time they have a price drop they push the message out on social media and get a significant uplift in volume.
“Some of our posts have reached a quarter of a million people and if just a small percentage of those people come in, it’s great for business.”
And it seems some drivers are happy to travel a fair distance to buy cheaper fuel. Says Raven: “People are nuts; they will drive crazy distances to save 5ppl on fuel. They’ll have spent more in fuel travelling here but I won’t tell them that, I just thank them for their business.”
Raven keeps a keen eye on the news so he has some warning about what might happen. “When the White House does something strange or bizarre prices spike, but when they behave themselves, prices go down so I always keep an eye on Reuters and other news channels to see what’s happening.”
Another retailer, this time in Bishop Auckland, today has petrol at 145.7ppl and diesel at 165.7ppl. At GW Holmes & Son’s Etherley Moor Garage, a member of staff says their customers are over the moon at the drop in prices and that it definitely has sparked a rise in volumes.
Meanwhile, RAC head of policy, Simon Williams, says that at its worst, the average price of petrol rose by 20% to 159.53ppl, because of the conflict, which was 27p more than it was on February 28. Diesel peaked at 191.54p on April 15 which was a 49p increase, or 19%, since the start of the conflict.
“Prior to the deal being announced we were already expecting prices to come down significantly. If oil now begins to consistently trade around $85 – something we haven’t seen since early March – we should see the price of petrol reduce to 148ppl from its current average of 156ppl in the next couple of weeks. Diesel, which currently costs an average of 177ppl, ought to fall to under 160ppl,” says Williams.
