Several supermarket chains have trimmed about one penny a litre off the price of unleaded petrol. Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco are all selling unleaded for about 78p a litre while the north of England chain Morrisons has cut its prices to 75.8p a litre. Most of the service stations operated by the big oil companies, such as Esso, Shell and BP, are holding out against lower pump prices. Their price changes are determined as much by local competition considerations as by international crude prices. If one of the companies makes a move, the others are likely to follow.
Crude oil is only one factor influencing the retail price of petrol.
Esso claims that a retailer makes only about 5p for each litre of unleaded sold for 84p, with 61p going straight to the government in taxes. The retailer's 5p has to cover other expenses including transportation, storage and processing as well as credit card charges, which alone work out at more than 1p a litre, according to Esso. Competition can also be fierce. Shell claims not to have made a profit selling petrol in the UK for three years. On the face of it, yes.