Mayo tops for cheap fuel

CHEAPEST Tuffy’s Gala filling station in Ballina was selling diesel for less than €1 a litre for the first time in many years last week. Pic: Paul Mealey

Edwin McGreal

Mayo is the cheapest county for motor fuel in Ireland.
That’s according to the latest survey by AA Ireland. Mayo is the cheapest county in the country for petrol while Mayo and Roscommon share the lowest diesel prices.
AA’s survey shows average petrol prices at €1.22.7 a litre presently which is 3.8 cent cheaper than the national average.
The cheapest average for diesel is €1.06.5 cent per litre, an average shared in Mayo and Roscommon. Each county has one filling station retailing diesel under a euro with Tuffy’s Gala on the Foxford Road in Ballina selling diesel for just €0.99 cent per litre.
The price of motor fuel has come down worldwide due to the plunging price for a barrel of oil, which has been reduced by more than 60 percent since June 2014.

Surveys
The Mayo News has carried out four fuel surveys since 2010, listing the prices of petrol stations from every corner of the county.
In our survey of August 2010 the cheapest petrol was €1.28.9, found in six petrol stations, while the cheapest diesel was €1.19.9, found in Gallagher’s of Charlestown.
However 12 months later the prices had climbed considerably. The cheapest petrol was €1.45.9 per litre and the cheapest diesel was €1.36.9 per litre.
Our survey of May, 2013 showed the fuel at the highest since our surveys started. The cheapest petrol was €1.49.9 with the highest at €1.62.9 – fully 40 cent a litre dearer than the current average.
The cheapest diesel was €1.41.9 with the most expensive being €1.56.9, an incredible 57 cents more expensive than what is being charged currently in Tuffy’s Gala in Ballina.
Our survey of November, 2014 showed prices were beginning to come down with the cheapest petrol at €1.45.9 and the cheapest diesel at €1.36.9 per litre.
The fact that the prices have not gone down by 60 per cent in line with the fall in the price of a barrel of oil is explained by the taxes on motor fuel, which are charged by the litre, and not as a percentage of the price. Currently there is a 70 percent tax on every litre of petrol and 65 percent tax on every litre of diesel.