February Fuel Price Cut One Of The Biggest Monthly Drops In 20 Years

February saw fuel prices in the UK drop by one of the largest monthly amounts in 20 years.

Unleaded petrol fell by an average of 2.93p a litre to 124.02p and diesel by 4.24p to 127.04p, which represents the 19th and 11th biggest price drops since RAC Fuel Watch began monitoring fuel prices at the start of 2000.

PA

This means the cost of filling up a 55-litre family car with petrol is £1.61p less than it was in January at £68.21, while for diesel it is £2.33 cheaper at £69.87.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said that while this was clearly good news for motorists, the prices should in fact be cut further in line with a reduction in wholesale prices.

He said: "February was a good month for drivers with two rounds of supermarket price cuts, both led by Asda, which put an end to two consecutive monthly rises. These resulted in 3p being shaved off the average price of petrol and 4p off diesel.

"While it is good drivers are benefiting from lower forecourt prices, in reality the wholesale price is such that the big four supermarkets, which dominate UK fuel retailing, should cut their prices again.

"At the moment both fuels are 6p a litre too expensive which means for petrol we should really be seeing a UK average of 118p. Unfortunately, we don't think diesel will come down to the 2017 price of 119p a litre due to wholesale prices only dropping to 92p a litre briefly as a result of oil suffering its biggest weekly decline in more than four years."

PA

The pump price reductions have been driven by a $10 slump in the price of a barrel of oil from a high of $60.28 on 20 February to $50.41 by the close of the month, which Mr Williams said has been prompted by the spread of coronavirus.

He said: "The oil price has slumped due to the spread of the coronavirus prompting fears of slower global demand. This may well lead to a move from oil producer group OPEC and its allies to restrict production when they stage an extraordinary meeting in Vienna on Friday.

"If they decide to take action to prop up the barrel price it would very likely put an end to falling forecourt fuel prices."

So go fill that tank folks.

Topics: uk news, Cars

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey