Supermarkets launch fuel price war

Supermarket chain 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 Thursday for customers who spent £50 or more in stores. The promotion will run for two weeks.

Asda and Morrisons 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 dollars to 130 dollars in recent weeks.

Asda said all 170 of its petrol forecourts across the country would sell unleaded petrol for 113.9p a litre and diesel for 128.9p a litre.

Asda trading director David Miles said: "We are seeing a more stable reduction in oil prices, allowing us to pass on the savings to customers. We urge other retailers to follow our lead at a time when customers need as much help as possible."

Morrisons later said it would cut the cost of unleaded and diesel by 4p a litre at all of its 285 forecourts across the UK, a move that came into effect at 6pm on Monday.

Morrisons group store operations director Mark Gunter said: "The cost of crude oil and refined product has fallen in the last few days and we are ensuring our customers reap the benefit by passing on the saving quickly, for cheaper prices at the pumps."

A spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said: "From Thursday our customers can reap an even bigger reward because we are running a 5p off per litre promotion when they spend £50 or more in-store plus they will also earn Nectar points."

A Tesco spokesman said the supermarket giant was not entering the petrol price war at this stage. He said: "We frequently review our prices across the country to remain competitive and we're confident customers are being given the best possible value at our pumps as well as in-store."