Total has become the latest petrol retailer to lower prices, a day after similar moves by BP and supermarkets Asda and Morrisons.

As the firms respond to the recent falls in oil prices, Total said it was cutting three pence off the cost of a litre of unleaded petrol and diesel.

Both Esso and Shell have also hinted that they may follow suit.

Total said it always aimed: “to pass on cost reductions to our customers wherever possible”.

Morrisons was first to cut its prices on Thursday, reducing the price of fuel across its 285 petrol stations by 3p a litre.

Asda and BP quickly followed with their own reductions.

Average petrol prices are now back below 110p a litre, while diesel is under 120p.

Back in July, UK fuel prices hit record highs on the back of crude oil also hitting all-time peaks.

Petrol prices touched 119.7p a litre and diesel went as high as 133.25p.

As oil has since fallen significantly from July’s highs, there has been criticism that the petrol retailers have not been quick enough to cut their prices.

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BP has signed an agreement aimed at solving a festering dispute over control of its Russian venture TNK-BP.

The boss of TNK-BP, Robert Dudley, will step down as part of the deal with the Russian billionaires that control half of the business.

Three independent directors will also be appointed to TNK-BP’s board.

Mr Dudley’s departure had been central to the power struggle between BP and the Russian investors in the venture, which accounts for 25% of BP’s profits.

The memorandum of understanding, signed on Thursday, also includes the option to list up to 20% of the venture on international markets.

TNK-BP’s Russian partners had long called for Mr Dudley’s departure and Mr Dudley left Russia in July in the face of what he said was “sustained harassment”.

“This is a positive signal for the Russian market” Igor Sechin, Russian deputy prime minister

BP said it had agreed to offer a Russian-speaking candidate for the post, with extensive Russian business experience.

The Russian shareholders had accused BP of running TNK-BP like a subsidiary and Mr Dudley of favouring the British shareholder.

BP chairman Peter Sutherland said that the agreement, to be finalised over coming months, would relieve recent tensions between the two sides.

“It will create a stable base from which to grow the joint venture to the benefit of everyone involved, including the Russian state,” Mr Sutherland said

He said that Mr Dudley had been an outstanding chief executive and would be hard to replace.

‘Positive signal’

BP owns 50% of the venture while the Russian shareholding is made up of a number of Russian billionaires who control a consortium known as Alfa Access Renova (AAR).

Russia welcomed the compromise between AAR and BP.

“We are pleased that this situation has been resolved and the shareholders have come to an agreement without the involvement of third parties, including the state,” said Igor Sechin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

“This is a positive signal for the Russian market. We support the development of TNK-BP and believe that this company has excellent long-term prospects.”

Viktor Vekselberg, chairman of Renova, said the agreement was the result of difficult negotiations.

“Most importantly, emotions were not allowed to prevail over common sense and both sides found the solution that best meets the interests of TNK-BP,” he said.

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BP has said it has resumed pumping gas through a pipeline that runs through Georgia after an EU-brokered truce between Russian and Georgian troops.

But a spokeswoman for the firm said a key oil pipeline that runs through the country remains shut as BP assesses the security risks to the surrounding area.

The oil pipeline can carry up to 90,000 barrels a day.

Disruptions to exports from the region have supported the oil market, though prices dipped earlier.

US sweet, light crude edged 3 cents lower to $115.97, while London Brent crude fell 14 cents to trade at $113.33. The falls erased gains of more than $1.40 for both measures.

It had been hoped that transporting oil through Georgia would make the West less dependent on supplies from Russia.

But the outbreak of violence showed the precarious nature of the country as an energy transit route, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly report released earlier this week.

Security risk

BP said it had resumed pumping gas through the South Caucasus pipeline – which runs from the Caspian Sea, through Georgia, into Turkey – earlier on Thursday.

It was shut on Tuesday amid the military conflict between Russia and Georgia over the secessionist territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The Western Route Export Pipeline (WREP), which runs from Baku on the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan to the Georgian Black Sea port of Supsa was also closed earlier this week and remains out of action.

Another BP pipeline that runs through Georgia – the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline – has been closed since early August following an explosion on the eastern Turkish section of the line.

The current conflict could delay its reopening, scheduled for September, according to the IEA.

The world’s second-largest pipeline, of which BP has a 30% stake, runs from Azerbaijan through southern Georgia into Turkey. It can transport up to 1.2 million barrels of oil a day.

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BP says it is to appeal against the decision of a Russian labour court to bar the chief executive of its troubled joint venture TNK-BP from the country.

US-born Robert Dudley had left Russia last month when his work permit was not renewed, but has been continuing to work as CEO from outside the country.

Russian shareholders have been seeking to oust Mr Dudley from his post.

BP said it was “disappointed” by the decision and that Mr Dudley would stay in his post during the appeal process.

‘Full support’

“Robert Dudley remains CEO pending completion of an appeal process. He has BP’s full support,” the firm said.

“We believe this is clearly a further example of administrative activity orchestrated by the other shareholders in TNK-BP.”

The UK and Russian shareholders of TNK-BP, which is half owned by Russian billionaire group AAR, have disagreed over the firm’s management.

Foreign specialists

Mr Dudley has said “sustained harassment” had prompted him to leave Russia temporarily.

But Russian shareholders say Mr Dudley has not been running the company in the interests of all those involved.

They insist that removing him as chief executive of TNK-BP is their only goal, and reject the idea that they want to control the joint venture.

BP has already removed about 150 of its foreign specialists from the country.

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Energy giant BP says it has shut two of three pipelines that run through Georgia as a precautionary measure.

A spokeswoman for the firm said the oil and gas pipelines, which run from the Caspian Sea into Georgia, had not been damaged by the recent fighting.

The oil pipeline, which BP owns as part of a consortium, can carry up to 90,000 barrels of oil per day.

Another key oil pipeline, which runs from Azerbaijan through southern Georgia into Turkey, is already shut.

The closure comes as the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that the conflict posed a threat to key oil and gas pipelines that pass through Georgia.

“Renewed flows through Georgia could be further delayed if the line is damaged during the Russia-Georgia conflict” IEA

Georgia falls victim to pipeline politics

The IEA said that Georgia was of strategic importance to energy markets but that so far oil prices “had not been materially affected”.

BP said it had closed the Western Route Export Pipeline (WREP), which runs from Baku on the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan to the Georgian Black Sea port of Supsa, this morning.

It has also stopped pumping gas into the South Caucasus pipeline, which runs from the Caspian Sea, through Georgia, into Turkey, although BP said gas will continue to run through the line for another seven days.

Precarious

The larger Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline has been closed since early August following an explosion on the eastern Turkish section of the line. The current conflict could also delay its reopening, scheduled for September.

Oil and gas is transported through Georgia to Europe.

It is the world’s second-largest pipeline and runs from Azerbaijan through southern Georgia into Turkey. It can transport up to 1.2 million barrels of oil a day.

“Renewed flows through Georgia could be further delayed if the line is damaged during the Russia-Georgia conflict,” the IEA said in its monthly report.

It added that the outage and the eruption of hostilities highlighted the potentially precarious nature of pipeline energy supplies in the region.

BP has a 30% stake in the BTC pipeline.

It had been hoped that transporting oil through the region would make the West less dependent on supplies from Russia.

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The Russian ambassador in London has dismissed the idea that there has been a government-backed plan to attack BP, in its joint venture TNK-BP.

TNK’s boss Robert Dudley has left Russia after visa difficulties.

Ambassador Yuri Fedotov told the BBC it wasn’t “harassment” but the result of commonly applied rules.

The British and Russian shareholders of TNK-BP, which is half owned by Russian billionaire group AAR, have disagreed over the firm’s management.

On Thursday Mr Dudley said “sustained harassment” had prompted him to leave Russia temporarily.

Shareholders

The comments by Mr Fedotov came after the British embassy in Moscow said the dispute was damaging economies of both Britain and Russia as well as harming the global energy market.

“The way shareholders have manipulated elements of the Russian state bureaucracy and the way this has been allowed to continue is very disappointing,” an embassy spokesman said on Friday.

“We will continue to stress to the Russian government the importance of a resolution between the shareholders in full accordance with the rule of law.”

In contrast, Russian shareholders say Mr Dudley has not been running the company in the interests of all those involved.

They say removing him as chief executive of TNK-BP is their only goal, but reject the idea that want to control the joint venture.

BP has already removed 150 of its foreign specialists from the country.

News reported by The BBC

BP has said the last 60 of its staff seconded to joint venture TNK-BP are being recalled, and will leave Russia in the next two to three months.

Initially, BP had 150 staff members in Russia but 90 have already been diverted to other BP projects.

The remaining 60 technical specialists are being pulled out of the country.

The 150 people initially had visa problems and then found their work permits suspended as a legal case about their status has dragged on.

Frosty relations

Relations between the two sides of TNK-BP have recently deteriorated.

BP has accused certain Russian shareholders of trying to gain control of the business.

Meanwhile a group of major Russian shareholders have called for TNK-BP’s British chief executive Robert Dudley to be removed from his post.

TNK-BP’s offices were raided in March, and this was followed by legal challenges to the status of the BP employees seconded to the joint venture.

‘Business decision’

After the announcement, Lamar Mckay, BP’s executive vice president said: “We are taking this action reluctantly.

“These technical experts have played a huge part in making TNK-BP one of Russia’s most successful oil companies in the past few years.”

He said since it was founded in August 2003 the company’s oil output had grown by an annual average of 5.8%, and that it had also paid $70bn taxes and duties as well as $20 billion in dividends.

He said the decision to redeploy staff was “a business decision”.

BP had numerous other ventures including in Azerbaijan, the Middle East and the Gulf of Mexico, where their skills are needed, he said.

The firm said staff had been unable to provide their services to TNK-BP since work visa complications prevented them from doing so in March.

Once this problem had been dealt with, they were prevented from returning to their duties by security staff in TNK-BP and subsequently by a court injunction.

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UK drivers are set to benefit after a number of national supermarket chains and an oil company said they were cutting the price of fuel.

Asda said it was cutting the price of unleaded petrol and diesel by 3 pence per litre, while Morrisons said it had cut both prices by 4p per litre.

BP said petrol and diesel at the 310 stations where it controls prices had fallen by 2p a litre on average.

Tesco said it would cut prices by up to 4p, but its prices are set locally.

Sainsbury’s said it would look to match the prices of competitors nearby.

Fuel prices have risen in recent months as the price of crude oil has increased. Oil prices hit record levels above $147 a barrel in early July.

However, oil prices have dropped recently, to about $132 a barrel, resulting in a 6% fall in the wholesale price of petrol since mid-July, according to the AA.

Helping hand?

Asda’s price change came into effect on Tuesday, making unleaded petrol 113.9p per litre with diesel 128.9p at its 170 forecourts.

David Miles, Asda’s trading director, said: “We are seeing a more stable reduction in oil prices, allowing us to pass on the savings to customers.

“We urge other retailers to follow our lead at a time when customers need as much help as possible.”

Morrisons introduced the price change at its 285 petrol stations on Monday evening. It said it was “ensuring customers reap the benefit [of lower oil prices] by passing on the saving quickly, for cheaper prices at the pump”.

BP said pump prices at the 310 sites where it sets the price had fallen by an average of 2p per litre, and some stations had seen a reduction of 4p per litre.

“We don’t have a national pricing strategy. We set our prices on a site by site basis in response to the local market and crude oil,” said spokesman Mark Salt.

However, BP does not control pricing at around 950 stations that sell BP-branded fuel.

Discounts

Tesco said that it was cutting prices by up to 4p a litre, although it does not set petrol prices centrally.

A Tesco spokesman added that it had also been offering 5p off per litre to customers who spend at least £50 in store for the past month.

“The AA expects fuel suppliers to pass on, not pocket, the saving for the good of UK families, hauliers and the economy” Edmund King, AA

Sainsbury’s said its fuel promotion, which will also see it offer 5p off per litre when customers spend £50 or more in store, would start on Thursday 24 July and end on Thursday 7 August.

Hauliers welcomed the moves, which come a week after the government announced it was delaying a 2p a litre rise in fuel duty that had been due to come into force in October.

The AA said that wholesale petrol prices had fallen 6% since mid-July and it urged other fuel retailers to follow the supermarkets’ lead and cut petrol prices.

“The AA expects fuel suppliers to pass on, not pocket, the saving for the good of UK families, hauliers and the economy,” said AA president Edmund King.

“Should fuel suppliers and retailers appear to be dragging their feet we will seek to expose this.”

Ray Holloway, of the Petrol Retailers Association, said independent fuel retailers would be unlikely to respond immediately to the cuts.

“The supermarkets are moving the price in anticipation of further falls in the wholesale price, ” Mr Holloway said.

“Independents will pass on those falls in due course.”

News reported by The BBC