THE RAC is reporting that the petrol price dropped by an average of 6p for petrol in the month of November, falling from 165.96p to 159.88p. It goes on to claim that going by its own data, the real savings at the pump should have been around double that amount.
Diesel also fell last month, with the average price for a litre coming down from 190.31p to 183.87p. These savings bagged the owner of an average family car around £3 a tank, with the cost of filling up a 55-litre family-sized petrol car coming down to £91.28, and £101.13 for a similar-sized diesel vehicle.
While the savings are welcomed by motorists and businesses across the country, they might not be as significant as they could have been had the full saving been passed on to customers. The RAC is estimating that the wholesale price of petrol fell by around 11p a litre in November, from 122.63p to 111.53p, and diesel fell by even more, plunging from 143p to 128p and equating to a saving of around 15p.
Petrol price is "dropping like a feather when they should be falling like a stone"
The data shows that retailers could still be pocketing more, and supermarket petrol stations, usually the cheapest place to fuel up your vehicle, are being highlighted as being the worst offenders. The average price at the pump of a supermarket forecourt is usually around 3.5p per litre cheaper anywhere else, although when the reduction in November is considered, that saving only comes down to around 1.6p cheaper than the UK average.
While smaller, independent petrol retailers can almost be forgiven, they buy fuel less often, generally hold less stock in the shop, and are not backed by a retail giant, the previous savour of the cash-conscious motorist is less easy to forgive.
Simon Williams from the RAC commented:
“It’s bordering on a scandal that drivers are being overcharged so much because the big four supermarkets, which dominate UK fuel retailing, are flatly refusing to reduce their prices by bigger amounts. Their prices are dropping like a feather when they should be falling like a stone.”
