Supermarket giant Asda on Wednesday confirmed that they have reduced their national price cap on unleaded by two pence a litre, bringing it down to 126.7ppl.

Morrisons were quick to follow and announced that they were cutting unleaded on all forecourts by up to two pence a litre.

Sainsbury’s have also hopped on the bandwagon, and from today will be cutting unleaded by up to 2p a litre.

Late on Wednesday afternoon, Tesco announced that they too would be cutting the cost of unleaded by up to 2p a litre.

This national price cap means that petrol drivers can expect to pay no more than 126.7ppl in Asda forecourts, a welcome relief from the sky-high prices we have seen recently, which are the highest in four years.

For Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s customers, a welcome maximum two pence a litre drop will also help to ease the burden.

What started the price war?

A drop in the cost of wholesale has meant that supermarkets, who are often the quickest to respond to drops, are able to cut prices drastically overnight. While oil prices are still rising the wholesale cost has dropped, and the response from brands is a positive way of passing on the savings.

Asda was first to announce a drop on Wednesday 26th in the morning, and their cut took immediate effect, Morrisons came in a close second, with an announcement shortly after.

The Morrisons cut kicked in yesterday along with the Tesco cut, and Sainsbury’s the day after with their drop starting on the 28th of September (Friday).

In the last 12 months, eight of them have seen a rise in the cost of filling up. At the end of August, the prices hit a four year high with the average litre of unleaded costing 130.2ppl and the average litre of diesel costing 132.8ppl.

While this is mostly unchanged at the end of September, with the modal average litre at 129.9ppl for unleaded and 133.9ppl for diesel, the prices are still high compared to this time last year. In September last year, the average litre of unleaded was 119.3ppl, and the average litre of diesel was 120ppl.

The price of oil dropped to $71 a barrel in Mid-August, and it seems these savings have finally been passed down to the motorist.