Gas station orders to reduce prices at pumps within hours

Commercial Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has called for lower prices for petrol and diesel after Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that he would reduce fuel prices per liter on Wednesday morning at 6pm.

He tweeted: “The public will rightly expect the 5 Pence Fuel Duty cut to be quickly reflected in the prices announced this evening in advance.”

He added: “This afternoon, @RishiSunak and I wrote to major retailers, retailers and supply chains to express our expectations.”

Fuel companies have in the past been accused of rapidly raising prices but slowing down when oil costs and taxes fall, allowing them to collect more revenue through the delay.

The 5p cut, which was announced on Wednesday, will last until March 2023.

However, the RAC warns that the measure can only be reflected in pump prices if retailers buy new fuel at a low rate, as the duty on wholesale purchases is offset.

Asda, however, was the first major retailer to confirm that it will reduce prices, with a 6p reduction per liter in petrol and diesel.

Motorists have been hit by record pump prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to an increase in the cost of oil due to supply fears.

Traders have also been accused of not continuing a reduction in wholesale spending earlier this month.

Figures from data firm Experian Catalist show the average cost of a liter of petrol on UK forecourts on Tuesday was 167.3p, while diesel was 179.7p.

That is an increase of 18p per liter for petrol and 27p for diesel last month.

In their joint letter to the chiefs of the petrol dealers, Mr Kwarteng and Mr Sunak said: “This is the first time in more than a decade that the main rates of petrol and diesel have been reduced and is the all fuel is cut.Collave rates at once, ever.

“I know you will agree that it is vital that these savings be delivered to consumers as soon as possible, to deal with the increasing pressure that the unique global circumstances are bringing to the cost of living in the UK. “

Since March 2011, the price of fuel has been frozen at 57.95p per liter for petrol and diesel.

RAC chief political officer Nicholas Lyes described the 5p cut as “a drop in the ocean” because it “only took prices back to where they were just over a week ago”.

He said: “There is also a very real risk that traders will be able to absorb only some or all of the duty by not lowering their prices.

“If this proves to be the case, it’s terrible for drivers.”

AA President Edmund King welcomed the cut but expressed concern that “the benefit will be lost unless traders pass it on”.

He also called for prices to fall due to the “substantial reduction in wholesale road fuel costs” since 9 March.

“The road fuel trade should not leave the treasury to make the heavy lifting if you reduce engine costs,” he added.

Paul Tuohy, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport pressure group, said the cut would “do little to help those with the lowest incomes who may not even own a car”.

He added: “Railway prices have risen higher than fuel costs, and buses have risen twice as fast, but passengers on public transport have not received any help with the cost of living crisis.”

The government has argued that the cut in savings will amount to more than £ 5 billion in households and businesses over the next year, compared to when fuel duty was increased in 2022/23, although it has been frozen for many years .

Sainsburys has confirmed that it will reduce prices at its pumps by 6pm, with Chief Executive Simon Roberts saying they will pass a 6p cut on its suburbs “as we know fuel costs are one of the biggest pressures that anyone has” right now confronted. “