How much do you pay for ordinary unleaded petrol in NZ ?

[OzMike]

Here in Exmouth, 1260km north of Perth, diesel is $1.98/litre, 95 octane $1.89 and 91 about $1.78 (not sure, don't use it). Last month diesel hit $2.10/litre. LPG is quite expensive here too at about $1.00- $1.10/litre- it's a 500km round trip just from the main highway turnoff so freight is a big factor. A colleague went to the next big town to the north (strangely enough, we head south for an hour to go north, as we're on a peninsula) and the roadhouse halfway to Karratha had diesel at $2.35/litre, last month!

When diesel was $2.10 here in July it was equivalent to NZ$2.67/litre!

I've looked into NZ's rather unusual taxing regime for diesels and come to the conclusion it's not worth the hassle of owning a diesel over there. We pay tax on both petrol and diesel as we buy it.

Diesel has been more expensive than petrol for several years in Australia, in part because of increased demand from China and India but also due to the higher refining cost associated with low sulphur fuels required for Euro standard diesel engines, which is most of the diesel engines introduced in the past 5 years (common rail/high pressure injection). In fact, many makers held back on releasing their diesel models here because we didn't have low-sulphur fuel available.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I see it's back to "Petrol Tuesdays" with 'Petrol Thursdays' thrown in as a bonus?
Up to $1.58.9C today, Tuesday
will Thursday be up again?
Funny the excueses they are giving when oil prices overseas haven't been going up all that much ?

JohnGaul
NZThS

[mikestormchaser]

They reckon its just the dollar or something or rather its a load of bull if you ask me, there just trying to take off with your money ill bet.
At the moment its about 80% of it is just tax for the govt, they could easerly halve that

[Nev]

Mike, how about doing a little research before making such spurious claims?

FYI, the govt's take on $1.589 for 1 litre of petrol (incl. GST) is about 70.225 cents, or about 44%.
(See: Duties, Taxes and Direct Levies on Motor Fuels in NZ and Regular Petrol Data)

Yes, our dollar has slumped to a 6-year-low, which obviously doesn't help. However, the increased price of refined petrol globally probably makes up a larger part of that 26 cent rise in our petrol in less than 2 weeks. Reacting to a low refining price, refiners have deliberately cut production in order to force the price back up. That cut back, rather ironically, has also contributed to keeping the price of crude low, but no doubt that will change. Nothing to do with our govt and other countries like our Trans-Tasman neighbours are also now feeling the pinch. We also don't have the stockpile reserves, nor the bulk purchasing power that those larger nations have.

Might also be worth noting that our fuel-tax is still the 5th lowest in the OECD, as is the retail price of our petrol. Respectively, only Australia, Canada, the US and Mexico are cheaper. Ask Marc what he pays for unleaded petrol in Germany; I think you'll find it's almost double what we pay.

I'm not sure that I'd totally agree with John's theory about Tuesdays and Thursdays either. Of the 5 retail petrol-price increases this month, the first occurred on Wed 14th, followed by Fri 16th, then Tue 20th, Thu 23rd and Tue 27th. In Dec we had 3 decreases (which incidentally saw prices at their lowest for 3 years). They occurred on Fri 5th, Mon 29th and Wed 31st.

[jamie]

Yes the price is more expensive in other places like Europe but look at how much they are erning. I noticed in aus (yes there taxes are less on petrol, but i was dealing with tolls of close to $10 a day) petrol was crazy cheap for what i was erning. It makes a big difference if your filling you car (say $80) and for me being on $22.50 AUSD per hour compared to here, being paid a mesly $12-14 NZD per hour for the same work. To me that makes a huge difference! It was costing me $40ausd to fill up but that was nothing compared to what i was erning.

Petrol price comparisons should be looked at in terms of average income not just the figure.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I'm not sure that I'd totally agree with John's theory about Tuesdays and Thursdays either. Of the 5 retail petrol-price increases this month, the first occurred on Wed 14th, followed by Fri 16th, then Tue 20th, Thu 23rd and Tue 27th. In Dec we had 3 decreases (which incidentally saw prices at their lowest for 3 years). They occurred on Fri 5th, Mon 29th and Wed 31st.

No it is usually Tuesday's because we are a day behind when the the overseas markets open on a Monday.
It may be different in Auckland ??
It was the 13th here, that's why I clicked onto it, and then the 20th with the following Thursdays.
Did it go up today?
JohnGaul
NZThS

[Nev]

John, If you like, I can post at least a dozen press articles to back my claim. The price increases all occur nation-wide on the same day regardless of which city. Re the first two increases this month, here's just one article from your very own Christchurch Press ...

'5c more to pay at pump'
Saturday, 17 January 2009

Petrol prices have risen for the second time this year, on the back of continued weakness in the New Zealand dollar and higher prices for petrol in Singapore.

Yesterday, prices increased 5c a litre to $1.429 for 91-octane petrol, and to $1.479 for 95-octane petrol...

Petrol companies raised their prices by 5c a litre on Wednesday, the first time since July 7.

And No, they didn't go up yesterday.

[Nev]

Apparently BP have put their petrol prices up by 4 cents today and, at this stage, Shell and Caltex are said to be reviewing their prices.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Petrol companies raised their prices by 5c a litre on Wednesday, the first time since July 7.

And No, they didn't go up yesterday.[/quote]

No, I'm sorry the PRESS are wrong. A lot of the media don't get their facts right these days.

JohnGaul
NZThS

[Nev]

John, I'm not quite sure what to make of your post above. However, I do take exception to being misquoted. It wasn't me that said that! It was an excerpt taken from 'The (Christchurch) Press', dated about two weeks ago, and clearly contained within the 'quote-box'. I can't see how I could have made it any plainer? Please amend your post to make more sense.

It was the 13th here, that's why I clicked onto it...

No, I'm sorry the PRESS are wrong. A lot of the media don't get their facts right these days.

Caltex, Shell, Mobil and BP all raised their prices on Wednesday, putting 91 at $1.38.
- ONE News - 3:31PM Wednesday January 14, 2009

The weakening dollar is one reason the petrol companies lifted prices by five cents a litre today.
- 3 News - Wed, 14 Jan 2009

Four petrol companies raised their prices on Wednesday in response to the increasing price of petrol in the international market.
- Radio NZ - Updated at 7:16pm on 14 January 2009

Shell, BP, Caltex and Mobil have all raised petrol prices today by five cents a litre with only the minnow Gull holding out.
- NZ Herald - 2:45PM Wednesday Jan 14, 2009

Petrol rose five cents a litre at the pump for Shell, BP and Caltex yesterday (Wednesday)...
- The Dominion Post - Thursday, 15 January 2009

That's just a small sample, but they can't all be wrong John!

Would you like to see a few excerpts for Friday, Jan 16th?

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I admit defeat
Petrol prices did finally go up on Friday, yesterday.
Wait to next Tuesday (or Wednesday)

JohnGaul
NZThS