Petrol falls 2.6p and diesel 4.9p in a week

Brent crude — the global oil benchmark that drives UK wholesale fuel costs — averaged $NaN a barrel over the week, little changed from the week before.

Crude oil is the largest component of the pre-tax pump price, and moves in the oil market typically take two to four weeks to filter through to UK forecourts. A steady barrel suggests little wholesale pressure on pump prices in either direction over the coming weeks.

At this week's average prices, filling a typical 55-litre family car with petrol cost around £84.42, about £1.43 less than a week earlier. The same fill with diesel came to around £94.93, about £2.70 less than a week earlier. Shopping around matters just as much as the national trend: with the cheapest local forecourt often several pence below the average, the same tank can cost £2–3 less a few streets away.

Figures are calculated from daily UK-wide price observations reported to the Government's Fuel Finder scheme by stations that updated their prices during the week. Because forecourt prices vary widely within any town, the cheapest local station is often several pence below these averages.

At its peak, 2,347 forecourts contributed petrol prices on a single day during the week. Oil prices are Brent crude spot prices published by the US Energy Information Administration.