Petrol price fall 'not passed on'

In the past week, average UK petrol prices have fallen less than 1p a litre despite falls in wholesale prices equivalent to at least 3p a litre, the motoring giant says.

The AA said last week that as supermarkets were cutting prices by around 2p a litre they should actually fall by 4p a litre to reflect the drop in costs.

Key Points

• Petrol prices down by 1p/litre

• But wholesale prices fallen by 3p/litre

• Prices up on last year

Petrol at the pumps is now averaging 135.71p a litre, with diesel at 139.89p a litre.

The mid-August figures compare with 135.62p a litre for petrol and 139.68p for diesel in mid July.

Prices up on last year

Compared with a year ago, petrol is 19.22p a litre more expensive, while diesel costs 20.91p more.

Filling a typical 50-litre petrol tank now costs £9.61 more than a year ago, adding £40.81 to the monthly petrol spend of a two-car family.

Currently, Northern Ireland is the most expensive region for petrol (136.7p a litre) while Yorkshire and Humberside is the cheapest part of the UK (134.9p), the AA adds.

Northern Ireland is also most expensive for diesel (140.8p a litre), nearly 2p a litre more expensive than the cheapest region - Yorkshire and Humberside (139.0p).

AA public affairs head Paul Watters says: "Supermarkets announced that they would be cutting pump prices this week and, hopefully, the drop in wholesale costs will be more properly reflected at the pumps.

"However, there is clearly a need for price transparency covering oil, wholesale and retail markets, taking into account the exchange rate."