Drop in petrol prices eye of the storm for motorists

Have you noticed something strange at the petrol station recently? No, not the fact that a lot of them sell beer. If you fill up at a supermarket, you may have seen the price of fuel briefly go down.

It’s obviously not going to last long – it’s the eye of a storm whipping up. But big supermarkets Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons have cut the price of petrol by 2p a litre. It offers motorists a brief reprieve from the grind of constantly rising prices, but for many motorists, capping the cost of unleaded at 130.7p is like slightly easing the grips on a strangulation.

And right on cue, the AA announced this week that the grip is about to tighten again, with more price rises expected. All this for a number of factors, apparently. Low interest rates and a falling pound makes petrol more expensive because it’s bought in US dollars. Wholesale prices rose $50 a tone for the first time since April, a hike that will be passed on to customers for sure.

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