Fuel winners and losers revealed as petrol hits cheapest point in five years: Where to find the most and least expensive petrol and diesel in Northern Ireland
Petrol prices in Northern Ireland have fallen to their lowest point in almost five years, this week averaging at 124.2p per litre.
And thanks to a provincewide checker put together by the Consumer Council, it’s now possible to reveal the five places fuel will have the least impact on drivers’ wallets, and the priciest areas that will tug at the purse-strings.
The price of fuel has been largely steady for the past year or so, and substantially down on a major spike in summer 2022.
Petrol and diesel skyrocketed after the invasion of Ukraine, which saw Europe impose sanctions on Russia, followed by Russia shifting its oil exports to countries in Asia.
Since autumn 2024, the market has been much calmer, with the average price of petrol and diesel in Northern Ireland staying roughly within bands that are only 8p apart.
Petrol has been between £1.24 and £1.32 per litre, while diesel has ranged from £1.31 to £1.39.
Currently, the typical forecourt in the province is charging 124.2p for a litre of petrol, and 131.9p for that amount of diesel. That’s a very small decrease on the cost of petrol seen last week, though the average price of diesel hasn’t changed.
Right now, says the Consumer Council’s tracker, the best deals in the province can be found in:
- Newtownabbey, at 122.4p
- Carrickfergus, at 122.6p
- Cookstown, at 122.8p
- Limavady, at 122.9p
- Belfast, 123p
That means all five of those areas are charging more than 1p less than the average forecourt.
Diesel drivers can also find decent deals in some of those areas, the cheapest prices for that fuel coming in with:
- Newtownabbey, at 127.9p
- Cookstown, at 129.8p
- Dungannon, at 129.9p
- Downpatrick, also 129.9p
- Limavady, at 130.4p
That means Newtownabbey is a whopping 4p less than the provincewide average for a litre of diesel.
But news was less good for residents of Strabane, which took the top spot for priciest petrol and made the top five for most expensive diesel.
The highest costs for petrol are:
- Strabane, at 126.9p
- Londonderry, also 126.9p
- Magherafelt, also 126.9p
- Newcastle, at 125.9p
- Dungannon, also 125.9p
The figures mean Strabane, Londonderry and Magherafelt forecourts are charging 2.7p more per litre than the Northern Ireland average.
Diesel is the most expensive in:
- Armagh, at 135.9p
- Newry, at 135.4p
- Strabane, at 134.9p
Antrim, Ballyclare, Enniskillen and Magherafelt tied for fourth place, all charging 133.9p for diesel.
But the costs are well down on 2022’s peak prices. That year saw petrol leap up from around £1.42 in January to a fraction of a penny under £1.90 by June and July, while diesel increased from £1.44 to more than £1.97 over the same period.
That was attributed to the economic shock in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prices gradually reduced until hitting around £1.30 by summer 2023, only to shoot up to more than £1.50 over the course of that autumn. It wasn’t until late in 2024 that prices stabilised, though they’ve never returned to their Covid-era low point of less than £1.09 for petrol and around £1.11 for diesel, which was in summer 2020.
Meanwhile the cost of home heating oil, which doubled after the invasion of Ukraine, is now broadly settled as well. Last June it hit its lowest price in four years only to immediately shoot up to more than £200 for 300 litres. It’s currently sitting at provincewide average of £191.01 for that amount.