Athboy, Ballinlough have cheapest fuel

The best value petrol in the county can be found at Smith's Filling Station, Athboy, while the cheapest diesel is available at Top, Ballinlough, a fuel survey conducted last week by the Meath Chronicle has revealed. Smith's in Athboy had petrol on sale last week for 144.9c per litre, making it the cheapest in the county, while Emo at Ross Cross was the most expensive at 152.9c per litre. For diesel, Top in Ballinlough was the cheapest at 135.9c per litre, while Texaco in Clonee was the dearest at 148.9c per litre. The survey of 61 outlets conducted last Thursday, Friday and Saturday showed there was a staggering 13c per litre difference in price between the cheapest and dearest diesel in the county, while the difference between the least and most expensive petrol was some 8c per litre. As petrol prices broke the 150c per litre mark on many forecourts around the country last week, in Meath just 12 of the 61 filling stations surveyed were charging above this figure for their petrol. However, some 26 outlets were selling petrol at just under this price at 149.9c per litre, which was the most common petrol price in the county. Top in Ballinlough was the cheapest for diesel at 135.9c per litre and, of the 61 outlets surveyed, just three others were selling their diesel for under the 140c mark - Smith's Athboy (137.9c), Top Hayestown (138.9c) and Kevin Brady Top, Martry (139.9c). There was more variety in the prices charged for diesel and the most common price was 145.9c per litre, which was the price displayed at 14 of the filling stations, while nine outlets were charging 144.9c and eight were charging 143.9c per litre. The top five most competitive outlets for petrol were: Smith's Athboy (144.9c), Applegreen Ashbourne (145.8), Kevin Brady Top, Martry (145.9c), Topaz Ashbourne (145.9c) and Brennan's Top, Bective (145.9). The survey showed that Athboy and Ashbourne were among the cheapest towns in the county for petrol. Applegreen Ashbourne had petrol on sale for 145.8c, Topaz Ashbourne at 145.9 and Topaz Coolfore, at 147.9c per litre. Gulf, Ballybin, had the most expensive petrol in Ashbourne at 149.5c per litre. Smiths, Athboy, was selling its petrol at 144.9c per litre and Excol in Athboy for 146.9c per litre. The cheapest petrol available in Navan was at Esso, Trim Road, at 147.9c per litre while four of the local stations were selling at 149.9c per litre - Maxol, Dublin Road; Maxol, Flower Hill; Top, Cannon Row, and Topaz, Kentstown Road. The most expensive petrol in Navan was at Topaz, Proudstown Road, at 150.9c. In Trim, all three filling stations had their petrol on sale for 149.9 - Texaco, Navan Road; Texaco, Dublin Road, and Souhan's Texaco, Haggard Street. Kells was one of the most expensive places to buy petrol in the county with both McKeon's Esso and Hetherton's Top selling petrol at 151.9c. The only place more expensive to purchase petrol in the county was Emo at Ross Cross, between Navan and Dunshaughlin. The best value petrol in Kells was available at Cole's, Moynalty Road, for 148.9c. For diesel, Athboy was again one of the most competitive towns with Smith's selling it at 137.9c and Excol at 140.9c per litre, though the cheapest diesel available was at Top Ballinlough, for 135.9c per litre. In Ashbourne, Applegreen had diesel for sale at 140.8c, Topaz for 141.9c and Topaz Coolfore for 143.9c. The three Applegreen filling stations in Meath were all in the top 10 most competitive for diesel, with the Ashbourne Applegreen selling for 140.8c and Julianstown and Gormanston at 142.8c. Both the Top and Texaco garages in Oldcastle were among the top 10 most competitive in the county for petrol and diesel. Both had their diesel priced at 142.9c per litre, while Top was charging 146.9c and Texaco was charging 147.9c for petrol. In Navan, the most competitive diesel price was Esso, Trim Road, at 143.9c, while Top, Cannon Row, and Topaz, Kentstown Road, had their diesel on sale for 145.9c per litre. Maxol, Flower Hill; Maxol, Dublin Road, and Topaz, Proudstown Road, were charging 146.9c per litre. In Kells, Cole's, Moynalty Road, were selling diesel for 142.9c, while McKeon's Esso and Hetherton's Top were charging 146.9c. In Trim, the three Texaco garages at Navan Road, Dublin Road and Souhan's were charging 145.9c per litre for diesel. Fuel retailers point out the price charged for fuel typically depends on the price the petrol or diesel was purchased at by the filling station when they last received a delivery, and this, in turn, depends on the market price for the fuel at that time. This means that filling stations which only recently received a bulk delivery can be more expensive than less busy filling stations, which may not have received a delivery since recent fluctuations in crude oil prices.