UK petrol prices fall by 8p a litre in just two months

UK motorists have seen a fall in the cost of fuel in recent weeks but consumer groups say that the reductions in the cost of fuel should have been greater.

Petrol prices have fallen by an average of 4p a litre in both April and May since hitting the record cost of 142.48p per litre in mid-April to reach an average of 133.77 in the first week of June.

However, over the same period, the wholesale of Brent Crude oil has fallen from $121 a barrel to $99, a drop of 18 per cent.

Meanwhile diesel has fallen by 5p a litre in the last month and the gap between the two fuel types is closing.

This means petrol drivers are saving an extra £4.5 million a day and diesel drivers are paying £1.5 million a day less than they were two months ago.

Edmund King, the President of the AA said that despite the drop the prices are still "short of where it should be".

The AA said that before the recent price cuts, fuel prices were artificially inflated because forecourts had increased prices at the end of March because of the threat of fuel tanker strikes.

The current price of fuel is the same as it was in January when a barrel of Brent Crude cost $110. So, the cost is effectively ten per cent higher than at that time.

The fall of 4.63 p per litre in May does however represent the largest monthly decline in fuel prices since petrol prices fell by 5,4p a litre between mid-November and mid-December 2008.

The AA praised Transport Secretary Justine Greening for calling for more fuel price transparency, saying that it may have contributed to the speed with which prices have been reduced.

Edmund King, the AA's president, said: "It is of course excellent news that a two-car family's petrol costs have fallen £9.83 in the past month and £18.49 since the record high in April, but could the price crash have happened more quickly, as it did in Europe?

"Pump price transparency, a key campaigning goal for the AA over the past seven years, could have ensured that the £4.5million-a-day switch of consumer spending from pump to high street boosted other businesses and lowered inflation far sooner."

However, the welcome reduction in fuel prices could be short-lived as the government is set to increase fuel duty by an extra 3 pence a litre on August 1st 2012. This will bring in an extra £3.5 million a day to the Treasury's coffers.

Northern Ireland remains the most expensive place to buy fuel with an average litre of unleaded petrol costing 135.3p a litre, over 2p a litre more expensive than the cheapest region, Yorkshire and Humberside, which costs on average 133.2p a litre.

Diesel costs the most in the south-east of England at 140.0p a litre and is once again cheapest in Yorkshire and the Humberside at 138.5p a litre.