Petrol prices dropped below £1 a litre yesterday after two of the country’s biggest supermarkets started a price war. Asda dropped its prices by 5p a litre to 99.9p – the first time petrol had dipped below £1 for a year.
The supermarket chain also cut diesel prices by 6p a litre to 110.9p. Morrisons took up the challenge and immediately reduced its petrol by as much as 7p to 99.9p. BP has now promised to reduce the price on its forecourts.
Crude oil was trading at $70.50 a barrel yesterday in London – compared to $147 in July. The AA has welcomed the drops, having previously complained that forecourt prices were not falling in line with the price of crude.
Edmund King, the AA president, said: ‘We suspect that these new prices are right on the edge, if not below, the point that retailing petrol remains profitable. This will be hard for other retailers to match.’
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