Fuel prices only competitive if you live near ASDA or Morrison’s – as supermarkets raise cost by £1.50 elsewhere
MOTORISTS who don’t live near an Asda or Morrisons are paying £1.50 a tank more than those who do, an AA report reveals.
The good news is that average UK petrol prices have fallen by 2p a litre in the past month - but the bad news is there are big variations in different areas of the country.
And it all depends on what supermarket you are near.
It is always cheaper where there is an Asda or Morrisons - who are both cheaper than rivals and also, crucially, have a national cap.
The AA says rivals - whether it is other supermarkets or fuel specialists like BP, Shell or Murco - will lower their prices to be more competitive if near one of those.
But if there is neither of the two cheap supermarkets rivals keep prices higher - knowing drivers have to put up with long round-trips to grab lower prices.
This is even the case with Tesco and Sainsbury’s, who are also cheaper than fuel specialists but on average a penny a litre more than Asda and Morrisons.
And because they don’t have a national cap, they will up prices where there is little competition or high demand.
The AA says the difference works out at a 3p a litre or £1.50 a tank more for petrol in towns with uncompetitive supermarkets.
Drivers in towns with an Asda such as Reading are likely to find petrol costing around 106p per litre. The cost there at Asda this week was 105.7p - forcing Tesco to lower its prices to 106.9,and Shell to 107.9p.
But in other nearby towns such as Newbury, it is much dearer because forecourts are not competing with the much cheaper Asda or Morrisons. There, Sainbsury’s and Tesco are 108.9p.
Still, drivers can still console themselves with the knowledge that, in mid August 2015, UK petrol cost 114.83p and diesel 111.93p a litre.
This continuing trend in lower pump prices compared to a year ago may explain why the UK’s monthly petrol consumption in June jumped above 1.5 billion litres for the first time since August 2014.
Edmund King, the AA’s president, said: “The pump price war at the start of August actually turned out to be a phony for hundreds of thousands of drivers, particularly in the South.
“Supermarket prices came down but glaring differences between towns with competitive and others with uncompetitive superstore pump prices remained.
“A 3p difference between towns with an Asda and those without will irritate drivers.
“With £1.50 enough for around 10 miles of driving, motorists in expensive towns are largely stuck with the higher costs, unless a journey they have to make takes them to a town with lower pump prices.”