Fuel prices fall below €1 per litre watershed

Fuel prices reached a watershed today with a number of filling stations around the country selling petrol and diesel for under €1 per litre.

Pumps.ie, which monitors fuel prices around the country, reports five filling stations in Galway, Offaly, Monaghan and Donegal selling petrol for 99.9 cent per litre today. Four of these stations have diesel for sale at the same price.

According to the AA, which compiles a monthly survey of fuel prices, a litre of petrol fell by 18 cent in November and now costs 113 cent on average. This figure would be even lower were it not for the eight cent increase in excise imposed in the Budget.

Last July, the average price of a litre of petrol was 133.5 cent, while diesel was 143.8 cent.

AA spokesman Conor Faughnan said watching fuel prices at the moment was “like taking a still photograph of a falling rock”.

He said prices would continue to drop in the short term at least, predicting the average price would fall to about 106 cent over the coming weeks. “Prices are going to continue falling and there is no prospect of them rising,” he said.

By the end of the year, the average should be around 100 cent, the lowest since early 2005, he added.

The cost of diesel, which was not affected by the Budget tax increases, fell by over 15 cent in the past month, and now costs an average of 113.7 cent per litre, the AA figures show

The price falls follow weeks of falling international oil prices. Crude oil fell below $50 per barrel today for the first time since May 2005.