Petrol prices fall but diesel keeps on rising
Latest figures from the AA show that average petrol prices have fallen again but the news isn't so good if you've got a diesel.
The average price of petrol has fallen to its lowest level for nine months, says the AA. But the motoring organisation said there is now a clear north-south divide in how much drivers pay.
The average price of a litre of petrol at the pump is now 132.54p, down 1.16p on last month. But diesel continues to go up, with a litre now averaging 141.15p, up from 140.95p this time last month.
However, petrol in London and south-east England costs an average of 133.55p a litre, compared to an average of 131.63p in northern England.
This year, petrol has averaged 133.83p a litre, up from 117.36p a year ago. Meanwhile, diesel has averaged 139.17p, compared to 119.75p 12 months ago.
But while petrol prices might be falling, and next month’s fuel duty increase has been scrapped, Department for Transport figures show road traffic is declining. And it’s fallen for three consecutive years for the first time since records began.
Department for Transport figures also showed that only a third of the money raised from Vehicle Excise Duty (or road tax, as it's often referred to) was spent on roads.
If you’re looking for the cheapest pump prices in your neighbourhood, take a look at PetrolPrices.com, which has prices from over 11,000 petrol stations.
For more tips on cutting the cost of motoring, read this article.
More: Ten rip-offs that drive motorists mad | Five simple ways to save money on the road
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To Russbiker, You point may we be true but Diesel is also much cheaper to make than petrol so still not a reason for it to be more expensive really. We all know that it has gone up as the Government have realised that more people are getting diesel cars as they generally cheaper to run and have lower emissions so cheaper car tax etc. I have a diesel and it is still cheaper to run than the petrol version and a decent diesel does not make the horrible noise like they used to. In fact most people who are in my car think it is petrol. Why can't both fuels be the same price? Would be the fairer option for all.
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Diesel costs more because there's less refining capacity; it's as simple as that. Petrol cars used to outsell diesel by a considerable margin, now it's the reverse, but insufficient investment was made in refining infrastructure, and it's still that way. Also, clean-burn petrol technology advances ever faster, so what with fuel price differential, extra buying cost and cost of fixing particulate filter problems, there are ever fewer reasons to buy diesel. Not to mention the vile noise they make.
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In our local area - Newbury, Berkshire - unleaded is £1.35 or £1.34 a litre at our local Tesco and Sainsburys. They are obviously ripping us off because in the surrounding towns and villages they are selling at £1.31 a litre. Traditionally, small villages and towns tend to be more expensive than the larger towns. In Reading, most of the petrol stations are selling between £1.28 and £1.30. Several years ago - abou 15 or 20 - Newbury was the most expensive area in the South-East for petrol. Then we became on of the cheapest areas, even cheaper than reading for about 5 years or so. The pricing can't just be about the volumes being sold, but how they price-fix by watching each others prices locally. A few months ago I went into our local Shell garge and put in £5.00 worth of fuel. I took £50 out of my wallett and told the owner that this would have been yours, but I'm off to Reading later where I will be filling up the tank. His response was that they just match whatever Tesco and Sainsburys charge. I asked why he didn't set the trend...he just smiled!
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09 January 2012