Petrol retailers are today being urged to cut prices at the pumps following a sharp drop in the wholesale cost of fuel.
The RAC claims that a litre of unleaded petrol is 6p cheaper on the wholesale market than it was at the end of last month, while the price of diesel has dropped by 2p per litre. The price of Brent crude was pushed to a six-month high of $117.3 a barrel last month by the Syria crisis; however, with a peaceful resolution to the conflict seeming increasingly likely, the price has fallen accordingly.
As a result, fuel retailers are paying a lot less for wholesale petrol than they were during the summer and are being warned by motoring groups not to profiteer from this but to pass the savings on to the consumer.
Peter Williams, head of external affairs at the RAC, said: "If fuel retailers want the public to fully trust they are operating fairly and transparently they should reflect the drop in wholesale prices immediately by cutting prices by up to 5p a litre for unleaded and 2p a litre for diesel.
"Motorists are very aware that prices seem to go up far faster than they come down so this really is the time for the fuel retail industry to demonstrate that that's not the case."
Asda is the only petrol retailer so far to offer a price reduction to the motorist, cutting its prices by 2p per litre last week. It remains to be seen whether the other supermarkets will follow suit.
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