Is the 99p litre down the road for Shropshire drivers?

As supermarkets cut their prices again, motorists can expect more Christmas and New Year presents along the road. If the prediction proves to be correct, it would mean the price of unleaded will be at its lowest level since May 2009.

Its forecast is based on the price of Brent crude, which on Tuesday fell below $59 a barrel for the first time since May 2009 and is continuing to drop.

The RAC said it expected petrol to be below £1 a litre early nest year.

It comes as prices continue to tumble on forecourts across Shropshire.

In Telford, the average price for unleaded is currently 114.9p per litre and 120.6p per litre for diesel.

In Shrewsbury it is slightly more expensive, with the average 116.7p for diesel and 121.6p for unleaded.

Whitchurch is regarded as the cheapest place in the county to buy fuel, with unleaded on sale for an average of 114.7p per litre and diesel 120.9p per litre.

The most expensive, meanwhile, is Bridgnorth, with an average price of 121.9p per litre for unleaded and 124.4p per litre for diesel.

Supermarkets have led the way in cutting pump costs in recent months, with Asda the latest to confirm another move in the right direction for drivers.

The chain said it was taking 2p-a-litre off petrol and 1p from diesel from today.

An independent petrol station owner in Shropshire reckons he is selling fuel as cheaply as anywhere in the country.

Dave Roberts, who owns the forecourt in Grindley Brook, near Whitchurch, is currently selling unleaded for 109.9p a litre and diesel for 116.9p per litre.

He says people are regularly queuing off the forecourt to get at the fuel and has even had to take more staff on to cope with the demand.

"It's just the way we have decided to go really," he said.

"I got a really good deal with Texaco about 12 months ago and we have decided to pass that deal onto our customers.

"We get all the locals coming here but we also have a lot of passing trade too, with us being on the A41.

"It's really busy at the moment, but we have been trying to offer the cheapest fuel for a while now without advertising ourselves too widely."

The drive to sell for cheaper has not affected his profits either.

And he says he believes some of the bigger petrol station chains could learn from his example.

"We are about 40 per cent above target with Texaco for what we were expected to buy from them," he said.

"I am still independent and still set my own prices, I can sell it for whatever I want.

"We are always busy."

Mr Roberts lives on site and has lived in Grindley Brook all his life.

His business, which also includes fuel distribution and servicing, employs around 40 people.

It said the reductions would mean Asda customers would pay no more than 110.7p-a-litre for petrol, with the company's diesel costing 117.7p-a-litre.

Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Tesco later confirmed they would be cutting prices by the same amounts.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: "What's currently happening at the pumps with falling fuel prices is something many motorists will not remember seeing before.

"Talk of prices going up like a rocket and falling like a feather could not be further from the truth as retailers have been quick to pass on savings at the forecourt since we forecast on December 6 that prices were due to come down by 7p a litre for petrol and 6p for diesel."

The RAC's monitoring of fuel prices shows the average price of a litre of petrol is 116.9p - nearly 14p a litre cheaper than at the start of the year.

Diesel is nearly 16p cheaper – 122.33p a litre now compared to 138.24p in January. The average supermarket price of fuel is 114.26p a litre for petrol and 120.18p for diesel.

Mr Williams added: "The cost of going to visit family and friends this Christmas will be the cheapest it's been for nearly five years, but the prospect of petrol going below £1 a litre in the new year is incredible, particularly when prices at the beginning of 2014 seemed to be heading ever upwards.

"Current forecasts are for average petrol prices to fall to below 110p a litre in the next fortnight and diesel to drop to under 116p.

"At these average prices across the country the cheapest retailers will almost certainly be selling petrol for around 105p a litre, or even lower."

"With the United Arab Emirates energy minister saying OPEC will not cut production even if oil falls as low as $40 a barrel, we have every reason to think petrol at under £1 early in 2015 is a very real prospect."

The RAC says that will put an extra £16.93 a week into the pockets of a one-car family, with two-car households £33.86 a week better off.

The cost of filling a hatchback will tumble from £71.93 in January this year to £55 next month.

The last time petrol was less than £1 a litre was in May 2009.

But with oil already at a five-year low of just under $60 (£38) a barrel, experts say it could carry on falling to $40.

However, the RAC cautioned that the oil and fuel market were volatile, and that its forecast could change if factors such as the strength of the pound against the dollar or the global production of oil changed significantly.

The RAC is also emphasising the level of tax on fuel in the UK.

"While the cost of fuel itself has fallen, it only represents around a third of the overall pump price with the lion share being made up of fuel duty and VAT. At £1 a litre duty would be 57.95p and VAT 16.67p, leaving the cost of the oil and retailers' margin at 25.38p", said Williams.

Low oil prices may be a boost for motorists, but many see Saudi Arabia's decision not to cut production as political. America's booming fracking industry, which has much higher costs than Middle Eastern oil, will be hit.

And Russia and Iran, who are highly dependent on oil exports, will also suffer.