According to data released by the AA
today, customers are paying substantially less for their road fuels at a level
last seen in 2016. The AA’s most
recent monthly study of fuel prices found that, on average, a litre of petrol
now costs 126.5c, representing a reduction of over 15c compared to February’s
average cost of 141.9c.
David Blevings, spokesperson for the Irish Petrol Retailers Association (IPRA)
said, ““Oil prices are falling sharply on the back of decreasing demand and
increasing stocks. With most countries introducing isolation tactics and
closing non-essential businesses we are starting to see signs of distress in
the oil market with oil stocks surging and demand falling sharply.
News media widely reported that oil prices were trading negatively and this referred to West Texas Crude futures due to expire today and the price reached an unprecedented minus $37.63 a barrel. Sellers were paying buyers to take oil because of an over supplied market as companies have run out of room to store it. In Europe prices are benchmarked on Brent Crude which is still trading at c. $20/barrel.
Some investment banks are speculating that oil could fall further in the short term due to the oversupply and if this does happen, we could see further reductions at the pump”, added David.
Looking to the longer term, most pundits are predicting that Crude will settle at $35-45/barrel following the recent agreement to reduce supply but with no sign of detailed plans to restart the world economy this number could be still some way off.
Some investment banks are speculating that oil could fall further in the short term due to the oversupply and if this does happen, we could see further reductions at the pump”, added David.