Potentially good news, car owners. The RAC said the tumbling price of oil should result in a price reduction at the pumps.
Because of a substantial drop in the price of cruide oil per barrel, from US$115 in June 2014 to US$40 on Monday, the breakdown provider has urged supermarkets to let shoppers see some of the benefit at the pumps. Crude oil prices actually fell below US$40 for the first time since 2009.
The breakdown service believes a three pence drop for petrol and a five pence drop for diesel in time for the Christmas getaway is likely, meaning almost back to the days of a pound-a-litre.
A reduction on petrol and diesel would see the average drop to 103p and 104p, respectively, but it’s thought some forecourts may drop below £1 to attract punters, something not seen since 2008, according to RAC figures.
RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: “All we need is for the supermarkets to do the right thing and embrace the season of goodwill by passing on those savings at the pump to make Christmas that much cheaper for everyone.
“We are still some way off the average price of unleaded reaching the £1 a litre mark but this will be a big step in the right direction.”
The big four supermarkets have already cut petrol prices, with Tesco already cutting the price by 2p and Sainsbury’s has announced a similar move. Asda, meanwhile, ran a three-day 99.7p a litre promotion in November 2015.
“If retailers don’t pass on the savings quickly, they will be giving themselves an unpopular Christmas boost to profits by pocketing the extra margin when they should really be passing this on to their customers instead,” Williams added.
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