Asda and Morrisons cut petrol price below £1 per litre

Both Asda and Morrison have dropped the prices of their unleaded petrol – with Asda now selling at 99.7p in Plymouth and Morrisons at 99.9p.

It is the second fuel price cut this week, and will apply to every one of the retailer’s filling stations around the UK.

A rush at the pumps is expected at Asda in Canterbury this weekend after the company announced it was dropping the price of petrol to less than £1 a litre.

“From the petrol price peak four years ago, the average auto driver will have saved £17-a-week* which they can now spend on more enjoyable things than filling up their vehicle”.

The reduction will only last until Sunday 13th December, and comes after the supermarket ran a Black Friday 99.7p petrol promotion.

But despite Portugal seeing petrol prices drop to figures last seen in the previous decade, the country’s prices remain high in comparison with other European Union member states.

Morrisons’ petrol retail director Bryan Burger said: “Today, for the first time in more than six years, we are moving unleaded prices down to below £1 a litre”.

It is the first time since February 2009 that the price of oil has fallen below $40 a barrel some petrol stations have already lowered their prices by a couple of pence but this could drop further.

This would take average prices to around 103p for petrol and 104p for diesel, but experts predict prices will be lower at many forecourts.

Morrisons will hold the price at this new everyday price for as long as possible but it remains subject to changes in oil markets and foreign exchange movements.

Asda said the second cut in a week will bring some “festive cheer for drivers”.

“As we have said this week, we believe that petrol for £1 or under will be a common sight in the run-up to Christmas”.