Supermarkets are slashing petrol and diesel prices by three pence per litre as world oil costs tumble. Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda confirmed the move on Friday, helping pump prices move down from record highs. Brent crude fell by $8 a barrel on Thursday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) decided to release a stockpile of 60 million barrels over the next 30 days to make up for production shortfalls in Libya. Fox Business presenter Lauren Simonetti said the rare move was both surprising and controversial. "Half of those stocks will come from the US - the Strategic Petroleum Reserve here - and that has only been tapped three times in history," she told Sky News. "This tapping will be the biggest ever." The extra oil, only the third emergency release in the IEA's 37-year history, will increase global supply by around 2.5% for the next month. Following the decision, Tesco initiated a supermarket petrol price battle by cutting three pence off a litre. UK chief executive Richard Brasher said: "We know our customers are feeling the pinch at the moment so we want to pass on the benefit of a fall in oil prices straight away." Asda responded by dropping prices by up to three pence across the UK, meaning drivers will not pay more than its new cap of 134.7p per litre for diesel and 130.7p per litre for unleaded at any of its filling stations. Later, Sainsbury's said it would be cutting fuel prices by up to 3p a litre from midnight on Friday. Motorists have seen average prices at the pumps soar to around 136p a litre for petrol and up to almost 140p a litre for diesel in recent weeks. There are currently no comments for this story. Be the first to comment below, and let us know what you are thinking.

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