Petrol falls below 150p a litre for first time since February 2022

The average price of petrol has fallen below 150p per litre for the first time in more than 10 months.

Figures from data company Experian show the average price of a litre of the fuel at UK forecourts on Monday was 149.7p.

The reduction of nearly 42p from the record high of 191.5p in July last year, is “a huge relief for drivers”, according to the AA.

The last time the average price of petrol was below 150p per litre was on February 24, last year, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Diesel’s average price on Monday was 172.2p per litre, down nearly 27p compared with the record 199.1p last July.

A 12-month cut in fuel duty of 5p per litre – worth a saving of 6p when VAT is taken into account – was introduced on March 23, 2022.

AA fuel price spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “A 41.8p a litre crash in the average pump price of petrol is a huge relief for drivers, cutting £22.99 from the cost of filling the typical car tank.

“Fuel at 150p a litre is still historically way above the April 2012 record of 142.48p, the previous yardstick of dire pump prices.

“Worse still, road fuel is set for a 6p jump in March when the fuel duty cut comes to an end.

“Indicative of the chaos of UK pump pricing and the rampant exploitation of drivers by many fuel retailers, the AA spotted supermarket and non-supermarket retailers yesterday charging less than 140p a litre in South Wales and Northern Ireland.

“How fuel stations in areas of big populations and high volume sales can charge well over 10p more for fuel than in largely rural parts of the UK is a question that the Competition and Markets Authority will have to address.

“The AA hopes that 2023 will be a year of transformation for fuel prices, where greater pump price transparency, mirroring Northern Ireland’s fuel price checker, will direct motorists to retailers charging fair prices and re-invigorate the level of competition seen before the Covid pandemic.”