Petrol prices hit new record as another tax increase approaches

Monday, 27 August 2018

Petrol prices in many parts of New Zealand hit a record high on Monday, as fuel companies reacted to higher crude oil prices.

BP, Z Energy and Caltex all raised the price of regular 91 octane petrol to $2.329 a litre on Monday at stations which use the notional 'national price', the first time petrol has topped $2.30 in many areas.

The national price is typically seen widely in Wellington and many parts of the South Island.

Motorists in Auckland tend to be paying more since the introduction of an 11.5c a litre (including GST) regional fuel tax, however crowd sourcing app Gaspy shows many stations in Auckland are now changing less than the national price.

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BP said the latest increase was 'predominantly due to an increase in the cost of product, coupled with the recent exchange rate weakening'.

A spokeswoman for Z Energy said the price of crude oil had risen around US$5 (NZ$7.47) and was now trading at more than US$75.

'While the Kiwi [dollar] is up slightly in the last few days, it is down 6cents [against the US$) in the last couple of months and has been a big driver of price increases recently.'

AA spokesman Mark Stockdale said a 'minor increase' in commodity prices had been offset by a recovery in the New Zealand dollar.

'The AA's view was that the previous price increase [on August 11] was unwarranted at the time and our view hasn't changed,' Stockdale said.

'Margins for the fuel companies are still healthy, so we don't see why a 3 cent [a litre] increase was justified at this time.'

Motorists face more price increase soon, with the excise tax on petrol set to rise by 3.5c a litre across New Zealand on September 30.