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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Neil Lancefield

Asda cuts fuel prices by 4p per litre amid drop in wholesale costs

Asda has cut fuel prices by 4p per litre at all its forecourts, the retailer said, amid a drop in wholesale costs.

The price reduction applies to petrol and diesel at all Asda and Asda Express branded sites.

It comes after the RAC said fuel prices should fall from a six-month high because of a drop in wholesale costs.

Pump prices will come down by at least 6p per litre for petrol and 3p per litre for diesel if retailers “pass on the savings they are benefiting from when buying in new stock”, the motoring organisation previously claimed.

Asda said the cuts implemented on Friday mean average prices at its forecourts are 132.0p per litre for petrol and 137.6p per litre for diesel.

It compared this with the average costs across the UK of 138.6p per litre for petrol and 145.8p per litre for diesel.

Asda executive chairman Allan Leighton said: “It’s in our DNA to give hard-working customers and their families the best value we can, no matter how they shop with us.

“This cut in our prices provides real savings when they fill up their cars with us, and they can find more in store too.”

The cost of oil has dropped from above 80 US dollars in mid-January to below 70 US dollars.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “It’s great to see Asda leading the way once again with a serious price cut on its forecourts, following our call for retailers to pass on savings from lower wholesale costs.

“This should spark others into action and help bring down costs for drivers right across the country.

“The longer oil keeps trading around the 70 US dollars mark, the more likely we are to see petrol hit its lowest price in four years.”

AA fuel price spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “Pump prices should have shown signs of dropping a long time ago.

“We suspect that the retailers, knowing that there was room to lower prices, were watching each other locally to see who would budge first.

“This is the cosy relationship that has plagued drivers for years.”

The Competition and Markets Authority watchdog found UK drivers paid a total of £900 million more for fuel at supermarkets in 2022 because of increased margins, and £1.6 billion across all retailers in 2023 because of the same issue.

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