Big four supermarkets cut up to 2ppl off fuel prices

The big four supermarkets have all announced cuts of up to 2ppl in the price of unleaded petrol and diesel.

Asda was the first to announce the cut on Thursday June 15 saying it would apply from the next day, but Tesco implemented its cut from Thursday afternoon, with Sainsbury’s and Morrisons’ cuts coming in at the same time as Asda’s.

Asda will impose a new price cap of 111.7ppl on both fuels, and said the price cut was driven by wholesale prices dipping to $48 a barrel.

Asda’s head of petrol trading, Dave Tyrer, said: “Today’s latest move shows that Asda is once again leading the way in reducing the price at the pumps to help the millions of motorists across the UK. Our new national price cap of 111.7ppl on both unleaded and diesel will be welcomed by the millions of drivers who will be starting to plan their summer holidays.”

Peter Cattell, fuel director for Tesco, said: “We know that lots of customers will have plans to enjoy the good weather predicted for this weekend, so we’re delighted to be dropping the price of fuel to help them enjoy it even more.

“This reduction of up to 2ppl on petrol and diesel at all of our 500 petrol filing stations will mean millions of customers save money by shopping at Tesco.”

Izzy Hexter, Sainsbury’s fuel buying manager, said: “This is a great piece of news for our customers ahead of what promises to be a warm weekend.

“We always aim to provide our customers with fantastic prices and great quality across all of our products and services, so we hope this price drop will help them keep costs down in the run up to summer holidays.”

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams commented: “This is excellent news for motorists. But it’s particularly good to see a major supermarket reducing the price of diesel in line with petrol as the wholesale costs of both fuels are currently very similar.

“Motorists should now be able to fill up for less and make the most of the weekend’s fantastic summer weather.”

AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “UK average petrol prices have been stuck at around 116.5ppl for the past six weeks and drivers were wondering when they were going to see the benefit of lower oil prices. Asda’s move will hopefully break the logjam.

“Asda and some of the other supermarkets have been trading at 4ppl below the national average for some time, making them the go-to places for cheaper fuel.”