Sainsbury's fuels petrol price war

21st May 2012 10:59

Supermarket chain Sainsbury's said it had cut fuel prices at its 266 forecourts by up to 3p per litre from Monday. The retailer also said that customers who spent £50 or more would receive a coupon entitling them to an additional 5p per litre off their fuel bill. The 3p announcement will take the supermarket's 'starting price' for fuel down to 129.9p.The move has sparked hopes of a renewed price war between the supermarket giants and follows recent cuts by Asda, Tesco and Morrisons. Before the May Day bank holiday all the major supermarkets cut their petrol prices by two pence a litre."We know that fuel continues to be a big part of many household budgets and we are committed to helping our customers cut down on cost whenever we can," said Richard Crampton, Sainsbury's Head of Fuel."Wholesale fuel prices have dropped across Europe and we are delighted to pass these savings onto our customers," he said.According to the website petrolprices.com an average litre of unleaded petrol stands at 136.42p, while diesel currently costs 142.24p a litre.Last week, before the news of the latest cut, the AA had complained that petrol retailers were not cutting prices fast enough.The motoring group said that a litre of unleaded should cost 132.48p, following a fall in the cost of wholesale petrol across northern Europe.