LONDON – The number of gasoline stations closing in the United Kingdom has finally leveled out, according to a new Retail Marketing Survey, conducted by the Energy Institute. The total number of U.K. forecourts at the close of 2014 stood at 8,609 sites, in line with the 2013 figure of 8,611. This encouraging number follows a two-decade long period of dramatic reductions in the number of gasoline stations, with today’s number nearly half of what it was in 1994.

As seen globally, U.K. consumer fuel prices experienced a downward trend, with petrol dropping to a two-year low last year. For 2014, total road fuel sales advanced 1.77%, with diesel sales outperforming gasoline sales. Retail petrol sales remained fairly stable. Meanwhile, the total number of cars on the road rose 1.95% to a record-breaking 35.89 million.

BP led the forecourt branding field, topping the listing with 1,163 outlets, while Shell secured second place with 1,019 branded sites. Esso was close behind in third position, with 1,012 branded forecourts, and Texaco snagged the fourth spot with 773 outlets. Gulf ranked fifth with 508 branded service stations. The supermarket sector accounts for just over 43% of total U.K. fuel sales, with Tesco (504), Morrisons (332), Sainsbury’s (298) and Asda (246) topping the list.