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Gordon Brown: "I want fuel price cuts passed on, and passed on quickly"

Written by Parkers Published: 10 October 2008 Updated: 1 February 2017

Gordon Brown has demanded that prices at the pumps comes down further, despite a number of supermarkets cutting prices this week. 

Asda and Morrisons have cut petrol prices by 1p per litre, bringing the cost of unleaded below 106p per litre and retailers have now cut the cost of fuel by 15p per litre in the last three months. However, petrol and diesel prices have not come down in-line with the falling oil price. In an interview with the BBC, the prime minister said: "I want these price cuts passed onto the consumer, and passed on as quickly as possible."

Following the prime minister's statement, Tesco responded by immediately cutting 3p per litre off the price of petrol and diesel.

Oil prices continue to fall, with the cost of crude oil now close to $80 a barrel - from a high of nearly $150 a barrel in July. The last time a barrel was under $90 was in January 2008. Petrol was 6.4p per litre cheaper, while diesel cost 13.2p per litre less.

Asda claims this is due to "a lag between Crude and Product costs. Gasoline and Diesel will move in cost subject to global demand. In the case of petrol the key driver is US demand; in the case of diesel it is global economic activity and the demand levels from new economies and winter gas oil demand."

 

Average supermarket fuel cost in January 2008
PetrolDiesel
103.2p107.9p
Average supermarket fuel cost in October 2008*
PetrolDiesel
109.6p121.1p
*October prices taken from petrolprices.com

The UK currently has the highest price for petrol in Europe, with London being the most expensive in September at 113.8 pence per litre for petrol, followed by Northern Ireland and the South East at 113.4 pence per litre.

UK fuel prices in September 2008

Garages and SupermarketsPetrol Diesel
Northern Ireland113.4125.4
Scotland112.3124.3
Wales113.3124.8
North112.3123.8
North West111.9123.3
Yorkshire and Humberside111.9123.2
West Midlands112.8124.1
East Midlands112.7123.8
East Anglia113.3124.5
South East113.4124.8
South West113.2124.4
London113.8124.9