Cross-border sales and fuel smuggling have hit oil companies

Ray Holloway said a drop-off in petrol sales "may well be a result" of fuel smuggling and cross-border shopping.

He said sales of full duty-paid fuel had been dropping since the mid-90s due to lower cross-border prices, fuel smuggling and fuel adulteration.

Mr Holloway said he suspected the "last straw" came with the introduction of low-priced fuel by large supermarkets.

'Property'

He added, however, that the giant oil companies were selling off property, not only in Northern Ireland, but also in England and Scotland.

"There has, in fact, been a great move by the oil companies to divest of filling station property," he said.

"It's a decision that's been taken, in turn, by BP, Shell and Esso and probably (caused) by the drop-off in demand for fuel in Northern Ireland which may well be a result of the smuggling and cross-border shopping that has affected fuel figures."

Mr Holloway said the supermarkets used lower fuel prices to bring in customers.

"They use the fuel price as an attraction. It's deception marketing in a sense that, if the fuel's cheap, everything must be the same," he said.