Christmas comes early for drivers: Diesel drops to its lowest price in six years in November, as petrol continues to fall
If you're planning on driving long distances this Christmas, at least it'll be cheaper this year, after data suggested diesel fell to its lowest price since February 2009 in November.
The RAC said this morning that the average pump price for diesel fell to 109.48p per litre at the end of November, down from 109.77p at the beginning of the month.
Meanwhile, petrol fell for the fifth month in a row, from 107.67p to 106.98p on 30 November.
That puts the cost of filling up the average 55-litre petrol car £7.75 lower than it was a year ago, while diesel cars are now £8.95 cheaper. Not bad.
Read more: Fill up like it's 2009: Petrol could dip under £1
The RAC also pointed out that the price war among supermarkets had pushed petrol at one retailer below £1 per litre: it charged customers 99.7p per litre during a three-day promotion.
Prices were pushed down by bargain basement crude oil prices, which fell my more than $3 to $44.03 in November, with a low of $40.40 on 16 November. However, the pound's value dipped against the dollar at the same time.
“In the expensive run-up to Christmas, drivers of both petrol and diesel vehicles are benefiting from far cheaper fill-ups than they did at this time last year," said Simon Williams, spokesman for RAC Fuel Watch.
“The lower forecourt prices we’re enjoying at the moment are a product of the fall in world crude oil prices, which began in September 2014.
"After a six-year low of $45 a barrel in early February and two instances of going back up to the $60 level twice briefly since, the price has been consistently below $50 since mid-October, reaching a new six-year low in mid-November."