Stores square up for cut-price fuel battle

Jul 23 2008 by Alistair Houghton, Liverpool Daily Post

SUPERMARKETS have launched a petrol price war with Britain’s biggest chains cutting the cost of unleaded and diesel by up to 5p a litre.

Asda announced it would cut the cost of unleaded and diesel by 3p a litre, and Morrisons swiftly followed suit by cutting the price of unleaded and diesel by 4p a litre.

Sainsbury’s said it was cutting petrol by 5p a litre from tomorrow for customers who spent £50 or more in stores. The promotion will run for two weeks.

Tesco said later it was cutting the price of unleaded and diesel by up to 4p per litre.

The retailer has a regional rather than a national pricing structure, so prices will vary slightly across the country, a spokeswoman said.

The supermarkets said they were responding to the recent drop in the price of oil. The price of a barrel of oil dropped from a peak of $147 to $130 in recent weeks.

AA president Edmund King said: “We have seen two drops in European wholesale fuel prices so far this summer, with the UK motorist seeing next to no benefit.