Automobile Association principal policy adviser Terry Collins isn’t expecting any more quick falls in the price of petrol, after a drop of about 20c a litre in recent days.
“I don’t see them coming down much more than this – another 20c, I don’t see that happening.”
There was still a lot of volatility and uncertainty in the oil market, and it was hard to predict future prices at the pump.
“But I would say fill up now if you can. Take advantage of all the loyalty programmes that the companies offer, and try to look for the best deal,” Collins told Breakfast on Wednesday.
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Prices had been rising because of a combination of extremely high refinery costs, and high crude costs. A year ago it had cost US$9.25 to refine a barrel of oil. Last month that had climbed to US$43.
Petrol prices lowered from over $3 to $2.76 in some petrol stations in the Wellington region.
“What’s happened in the last couple of days is that those refinery costs have come down, and over the last month the price of crude has come down.”
Despite those falls, while the landed price of refined product in New Zealand had dropped quite a bit that hadn’t been reflected at the pump.
So last week Energy Minister Megan Woods had asked for a “please explain” from the oil companies, and the AA had also started calling for the lower landed prices to be reflected more quickly at the pump.
Robyn Edie/Stuff
Energy Minister Megan Woods sent a letter to fuel companies questioning why their margins were at “historically high levels”.
“And over the last couple of days we’re starting to see that. We’re seeing 20c reductions per litre in the price of petrol,” Collins said.
Even with those falls in the price, he had found a 45c difference at Wellington petrol stations between the lowest and highest petrol prices.
The price difference reflected the range of service provided by different companies, from low service to full service.
Collins also said that apart from during the past two weeks, the oil companies appeared to have been operating within their normal range of margins.
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