Call on petrol retailers to cut prices

PETROL retailers came under fire yesterday for failing to pass on the benefits of falling oil prices to customers.

Deputy Government chief whip Billy Kelleher called on oil companies to cut the price of petrol after world oil prices continued their retreat from record highs which they had reached earlier this month.

Cork North Central TD Mr Kelleher said oil companies had moved quickly to pass on higher prices to motorists and that they should move equally quickly to cut prices.

AA spokesman Conor Faughnan said motorists were already beginning to see lower prices at petrol stations and was confident that prices would continue to fall in the coming weeks. But he warned against expecting significant cuts in the short term.

Mr Faughnan said world oil prices accounted for a relatively small part of the forecourt price and that motorists could expect price cuts of up to 4c per litre.

Government taxes account for approximately two-thirds of the price paid at the pumps.

The AA’s monthly survey of petrol prices around the country found that average prices rose from 94c per litre in May to over e1 this month.

Mr Faughnan also said busier petrol stations were more likely to cut prices first, as they would be quicker to replace stocks bought when prices were at their highest.

Tesco Ireland, which operates petrol stations in Killarney and Dublin’s Finglas, said that its petrol prices had already dropped back by two cent per litre since oil prices peaked.

The price would continue to decrease in line with lower world oil prices, Tesco said. Irish motorists are currently paying between 93 cent and €1.06 for a litre of unleaded petrol.

In a further move, the benchmark Brent crude oil price fell to $33.41 a barrel in London yesterday trade. Prices have fallen almost 4% this week and are now standing 15% lower than the 14-year peak reached at the start of the month. Analysts said the handover of power in Iraq and greater confidence that supplies from neighbouring Saudi Arabia would remain stable were behind the latest falls. But prices remain significantly higher than the $22-$28 range which has been targeted by OPEC, the group representing the world’s major oil producers.