Petrol drops below £1 a litre

3:20am Thursday 16th October 2008

Consumers hit by the credit crunch had something to smile about at last when petrol dipped below the £1 a litre mark for the first time this year.

There was more cheer for travellers when two major UK airlines - British Airways and Virgin Atlantic - announced a reduction in fuel surcharges.

The welcome reduction in pump prices came when oil giant BP and supermarket chains Asda and Morrisons all cut the price of a litre of unleaded petrol to 99.9p, with BP saying the new price would apply "at a number" of its outlets.

Asda, whose petrol price had previously been 104.9p a litre, also reduced the cost of diesel from £116.9p a litre to 110.9p. A litre of diesel at Morrisons was cut to 111.9p, as was a litre of BP diesel.

In addition, supermarket Sainsbury's said: "We are planning a price cut and will continue to monitor prices daily."

This is the first time since last autumn that petrol has been under £1 in the UK, with unleaded going over 120p a litre and diesel over 130p during the worst of this year's price rises.

The price of oil on world markets has fallen from a high of around 147 US dollars a barrel earlier this year to a 14-month low of around 75 dollars today.

Damien Cox, senior analyst at energy adviser John Hall Associates, predicted further falls as the outlook for the worsening economies becomes clearer over the coming months.

He said: "With the economic situation looking the way it is, I don't think we have seen the bottom yet. There's still a little bit to come out of this over the next few months."

In September last year, unleaded cost an average 95.2p per litre, with diesel averaging at 96.9p.

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