Fuel price fall isn't matching oil drop

Fuel prices at the pump are still not falling as fast as the price of oil, despite Prime Minister Gordon Brown last month demanding action from oil companies.

At present the average pump price of petrol is falling by about 1p every five days, but still has 5.8p-a-litre to drop if it is to catch up with recent sharp declines in the price of oil.

A fierce price war - led by the supermarkets has caused prices to fall in recent weeks at about twice the rate at which they rose earlier in the year.

Now Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has demanded that oil companies move faster to pass on the fall in prices to customers on station forecourts.

He said: 'A few months ago the price of crude oil coming out of the ground was about $150 a barrel. Now it's down to about $60. I want to see that reduction passed on to the pumps as quickly as possible.

'People are entitled to see the benefit of that falling price reflected in what they actually pay when they go and fill up their car.'