Petrol prices fall for second month running as RAC indicates 6p a litre drop at the pumps

Despite escalating pressure to move away from fossil fuel usage, petrol prices across December dropped by 6p in the UK, according to figures calculated by the RAC.

Although still five pence dearer than the fuel in Northern Ireland, it marks the second consecutive month where prices have decreased for both petrol and diesel.

• Related: Petrol vs electric: discover the true cost of battery powered bikes

“It’s surely impossible to argue that competition is working properly if prices are so vastly different in two parts of the UK,” RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said. “And if an independent retailer in the middle of Shropshire can be undercutting the supermarkets by around 6p a litre, something has to be very badly wrong.”

According to the RAC, the average petrol price across the UK is now 146.69p a litre – with unleaded now back to early February 2022 prices, prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Despite the cutbacks, the RAC feel that prices could be cheaper still if the big four supermarkets took smaller margins, claiming that in December 2023 the supermarket margin on a litre of fuel was 13p – over double taken in 2021.