Price of petrol at its lowest for more than two years

Pump prices have continued to fall after the Government granted new powers to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to regulate the industry.

RAC data shows the average price of petrol has fallen to its lowest for more than two years. A litre of unleaded now costs 142.57p – a price last seen at the end of October 2021 and around 10p a litre less than this time last year.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “This is good news for drivers, especially as prices should continue to come down in the run-up to Christmas due to the wholesale price being significantly lower.

“While the biggest retailers haven’t announced any headline-grabbing big cuts, prices are falling steadily every day which is encouraging. We just have to hope this continues in the coming days.”

He added: “If wholesale prices are reflected more fairly at the pumps, we should see the average price of petrol drop below 140p in the next week.

“While diesel isn’t at similar low point – as it averaged of 6p less than its current 150.29p in August – it’s still down from last Christmas’ dizzying prices of around 175p a litre.” 

In summer 2022 petrol peaked at a record of 191.5p (July 3) and diesel at 199.09p (June 25).

The Government announced in November that fuel retailers, including supermarkets, will be forced to reveal how much they are charging customers on their forecourts versus their profits.

Those that fail to comply could face a fixed fine from the watchdog of up to 1% of their worldwide turnover, or an ongoing fine of up to 5% of daily turnover.