Petrol prices cut to under £1 per litre

An Asda spokesman said the promotion, due to run at all 277 of its filling stations from Friday to Sunday, reflects the savings it has made thanks to the price of unleaded hitting a six-year low.

It is the second time this week the retailer has cut the price of petrol to less than £1.

Andy Peake, Asda’s senior petrol director, said, “We’re adding a further boost by investing in a three-day fuel price drop meaning drivers can now benefit from fuel as low as 99.7ppl in the crucial run-up to the festive period.

“We know our competitors are likely to follow but Asda don’t have a postcode lottery on fuel, meaning no matter where customers live, they will benefit from the same fuel price at every single one of our filling stations with our national price cap of 99.7ppl for unleaded and 101.7ppl for diesel”.Bryan Burger, petrol retail director at Morrisons, told the BBC: “Today, for the first time in more than six years, we are moving unleaded prices down to below £1 a litre.

“This is a moment where motorists will feel some relief after being clobbered by tax and price rises for the last decade.”

The price per barrel of Brent crude dipped below 40 dollars earlier this week and the average price of diesel is already at a six-year low, dropping to 109.18p last Friday.

An Asda spokesman said the temporary fuel price cap was not a loss leader but part of its customer-led festive pricing regime that began with its decision to pull out of Black Friday.

They said: “In November we pulled out of Black Friday after we got so much feedback from our customers to invest in other festive products and one of those was fuel. It’s just one of many products we have looked at as part of our price investment.”