Fuel prices drop to four-month low

12 April 2012

Motorists have received a rare financial boost as figures showed the cost of petrol and diesel has dropped to a four-month low.

The AA Motoring Trust said the average price for a litre of unleaded petrol fell to 94.86p on Monday - the lowest price since April 18 when a litre cost 94.58p.

And diesel users also benefited with the average litre costing 97.05p - the cheapest since April 12 when it was 96.92p - as supermarkets slashed the price of fuel amid settled oil prices.

Last week Asda cut the cost of unleaded petrol across all of its UK forecourts to 91.9p and diesel to 93.9p with Tesco and Sainsbury's also pledging cuts.

The price drop has coincided with lower oil prices, with a barrel of Light Sweet Crude and Brent Crude levelling out at around 70 US dollars compared with around 78 US dollars earlier this month.

The market has settled following the ceasefire in the Middle East and after tropical storm Ernesto bypassed the Gulf of Mexico, quelling fears that key oil platforms would be damaged by high winds.

But fears persist that pump prices could be reignited by a raft of simmering global problems, including a flare-up in violence between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Analysts see Iran's stand-off with the UN over its nuclear programme as another cause for concern while there are also lingering fears over supply disruption in Nigeria - the world's fifth biggest oil producer - due to continuing civil unrest.

Luke Bosdet, from the AA Motoring Trust, warned drivers that prices were susceptible to a "jittery global market" that could change at any moment.

He said: "The fall in petrol prices over the last couple of weeks has been a welcome break for UK motorists, but don't bank on them continuing to fall. I think it is unlikely supermarkets will cut their prices again and we may have reached a plateau. I am not sure the average UK price will come down further."

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