Fuel prices have fallen by 2ppl for the second month in a row, data from the latest RAC Fuel Watch report reveals.
A litre of unleaded petrol now costs an average of 114.71p compared with 116.69p at the start of June. Diesel has fallen slightly more, by 2.2ppl, from 117.77ppl to 115.57ppl. The average price at Britain’s four major supermarkets is 111.73ppl for petrol and 112.32ppl for diesel.
The report said the reductions were a result of a mid-month substantial drop in the oil price which saw a barrel go as low as $44.23 on 20 June. Across the month the oil price fell by 6% – starting June at $50.12 a barrel and finishing at $47.13 – which in turn caused the wholesale price of petrol to reduce by more than 3ppl.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “June has been a good month for motorists, bringing a 2ppl reduction in pump prices, following on nicely from a similar drop in May. As wholesale prices have come down in response to a falling oil price retailers have done the right thing and passed their savings on to motorists on the forecourt.
“It has also been good to see retailers bringing the price of diesel in line with petrol as the wholesale price of diesel has been cheaper than petrol for some considerable time and right now they are broadly the same.
“But while it’s definitely positive to see pump prices so much lower than they were at the start of the year – especially with the summer holidays just around the corner – the overriding message to motorists has to be one of caution as it seems unlikely that the oil price will stay this low for very long.
“Oil producers group OPEC has been trying to shore up the oil price for months but the market is still oversupplied, mostly as a result of the United States’ increased production from fracking together with increased output from OPEC producers Libya and Nigeria, which are exempt from the organisation’s productionsw cuts.”
No comments yet