Petrol prices rise: Pumps are quiet as full taxes are re-applied after 18 months of subsidies

Saturday, 1 July 2023

Gull New Zealand's Dave Bodger had an important message for drivers.

Fuel prices around the country have risen as expected overnight following the reintroduction of the full fuel tax – some more than others.

From Saturday, the fuel tax returned in full, adding another 25c of tax, and about 4c of GST, to the price motorists pay.

These increases appear to have been passed on immediately.

At a popular Caltex in Auckland on Newton Rd in central Auckland, Regular 91 increased from $2.39 per litre yesterday to $2.67 per litre today – a 28 cent per litre increase.

95 jumped from $2.55 per litre to $2.83, also a 28 cent increase. Diesel had remained unchanged at $1.90.

The forecourt of the Caltex was also noticeably quiet on Saturday, whereas Friday there had been queues that often impeded traffic.

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Down in Wellington petrol stations were quiet too. Prices across the city for 91 were around $2.74 a litre, and were slightly lower out in the Hutt at $2.62 a litre.

At the Mobil in Kilbirnie, locals Kane Patena and Mel McKinney had noticed the jump in price at the fuel pump with the removal of the subsidy. 95 was past $3 per litre, at $3.05.

McKinney said that while it normally cost about $150 to fill up their Skoda SUV, on Saturday it was $15 more expensive.

The Caltex on Newton Rd on Saturday morning.

The prices at Caltex on Newton Road, Auckland prior to the to fuel subsidy stopping.

Patena said the increase was “noticeable”, but wouldn’t impact on the household budget too much because the couple normally take the bus to work and have another car which is electric.

Down the road at Pak’n’save Kilbirnie, 91 was $2.70 a litre. Gary Singh said it was a “bad time” to see the jump in prices with groceries also getting more expensive.

Annabelle, who did not want her last name used, was filling the car up at the Taranaki St BP station in preparation for a road trip to Wānaka.

“The cheaper the better ahead of our trip,” she said. Prices were getting expensive at the supermarket too – she’d recently purchased a leaving card for a colleague at a cost of $17.

At a popular cheap fill-up spot in Christchurch, the NPD self-serve station on Stanmore Rd, the price of 91 had jumped from $2.17 Friday to $2.49 Saturday, slightly above the added tax burden, at 32 cents increase.

95 was up from $2.31 to $2.64, while diesel remained largely unchanged, going from $1.68 to $1.70.

Prices at the same NPD station today, which had risen more than could be attributed to the return of fuel duty taxes.

Cars line up on Stanmore Rd waiting to fill up at NPD on the day before fuel taxes were reintroduced.

The nearby Gull station saw similar increases, going from $2.17 for 91 to $2.47 this morning.

On Waiheke Island, a Challenge Station at Onetangi was advertising a litre of 91 for $3.52, while 95 was $3.70 and diesel $2.94. My Challenge 91 for members was priced at $3.46.

A litre of 95, meanwhile, had increased from $2.31 to $2.60.

Hamilton’s cheapest options were also now no longer so cheap.

At the NPD in Te Rapa, a litre of 91 went from $2.19 to $2.47, according to Gaspy, while 95 jumped from $2.34 to $2.63.

Fuel taxes were cut in March last year, as the Government sought ways to help New Zealanders cope with the rising cost of living.

The spectre of the price increase had many motorists queueing at cheap fill-up spots on Friday.

AA principal policy advisor Terry Collins said he had noticed nothing unexpected happening to fuel prices on Saturday.

Taxes reimposed were paid at the point of import, rather than sale, meaning the fuel currently being sold was likely imported at a lower price.

However, Collins said when the taxes had been relaxed fuel retailers had responded immediately and dropped prices.

“It looks like there’s been a similar reaction when the fuel duty has gone back on.”

He said it was fair that retailers also increase prices immediately, as the taxes were reintroduced.

Fuel prices at the Gull station on Stanmore Rd had risen as expected, following the reintroduction of fuel taxes.

The forecourt of the Gull on Stanmore Rd in Christchurch was busy yesterday with Kiwis eager to top up prior to expected fuel price increases.

“It’s a consistent application, if we expected them to do it immediately last time and then hold it off this time, in some cases that duty is worth tens of millions of dollars, so that’s unfair to the companies.”

It was not just at physical stations that prices jumped.

On Z's Sharetank app for Auckland a litre of 95 costed $2.51 Friday, a price which jumped to $2.69 on Saturday.

The price of 91 sat at $2.50 on the app Saturday morning.