I resurrected this thread as it appears the AA now agrees petrol is too expensive here. Australia is a bigger market, but it is also a competitive market. In areas where Gull is not present, e.g Wellington and the South Island, the price is currently around $1.86 for 91. To remove the market size argument, the price in Perth which has 1.9 million people (less than half of NZ), is A$1.20. Take out the excise tax and GST differences and the exchange rate, the Perth price is 22 cents per litre lower. New Zealand suffers from a lack of competition between the big 4 oil companies, they only compete where Gull forces them to and they are happy to gouge the rest of New Zealand
franc123,
Jan 7, 1:29am
That about sums it up. I see they've passed on another one of their crappy 2c decreases today on top of the previous crappy 2c decrease a few days ago at a time when WTI has dropped $5/barrel in the last week and the dollar has remained stable. Scandalous.
peanuteater,
Jan 7, 1:43am
shame that people in N.Z. couldn't just all buy there petrol everywhere else other than say BP for a couple of months or similer. then be interesting to see if that particular brand dropped there price . edit, just used bp as an example.
stevo2,
Jan 7, 2:27am
daughter returned to Perth between xmas and new year. petrol was on special for a few days at $1.06/lt. its now back up to its regular $1.21
zetec,
Jan 7, 3:58am
My daughter lives in Perth too. On WAtoday.com.au there is a headline that the average petrol price in Perth is falling further, down to $1.13 litre for 91, as of today.
And franc123 yes it is scandalous, especially that no one in government has the will to do anything about it. Petrol is about the most internationally transparent commodity there is, all the costs are known and published, not much hope for any other commodity price competitiveness in New Zealand.
directorylist,
Jan 7, 4:31am
ZOMG a bigger economy with less in transport costs pays less!
chrise73,
Jan 7, 5:05am
No shit. We pay more than most of the world for most things.
smac,
Jan 7, 1:07pm
You forget ACC @9.9c per litre. So you're talking about a < 5% difference on a commodity sold in a market with 4 times as many cars. Starting to look a little more transparent?
vic008,
Jan 7, 3:17pm
Did read an article saying in 5yr time we'll really be paying for it because at this low price none of the firms can afford to invest in new developments. And if we rely on petrol we need to be developing new fields for the future. Think about it.
tgray,
Jan 7, 3:24pm
It's exactly that price in Mobil East Tamaki yesterday.
mgmad,
Jan 7, 5:56pm
For what it's worth, most fuel stations near me (west Auckland) are between 1.739 and 1.759 for 91.
A quick bit of googling throws up a few sites suggesting the profit margin on petrol in NZ is somewhere between 10% and 20% - hardly huge, and not really where the fuel companies are making there money, they use it as a loss-leader to get punters in the door buying overpriced chips and ice cream.
zetec,
Jan 8, 1:17am
Hi Smac, no the ACC is included in the excise total - we pay 67 cents excise, excise is 38 cents in Oz, which partly explains the difference in price, but not enough to say there is a fair go. 22 cents a litre must be mostly pure profit, the cost of distribution is no higher here, the coastal distances are lower as are wages. Of course the price and margin is lower in Auckland and a few smaller places, but they more than make that up by over pricing the rest of us. I just don't see how the government can stand by and watch this happen, petrol and diesel costs flow right through the economy, and we should be seeing pressure applied for more cuts. Its not as though we can switch fuels or buy it on the internet.
smac,
Jan 8, 1:53am
So, if as above (mgmad) the profit margin is 10%-20%, you think this is unreasonable? What percentage do you think is reasonable? How does this compare to other goods you pay for? I am certain you pay far higher margins on other goods, do they concern you the same?
(don't get me wrong, I don't enjoy paying for petrol anymore than you, I'm just keen to discuss the issue - it always intrigues me when people cry foul but the logic of how they got to that is not obvious)
tgray,
Jan 11, 7:19pm
$1.67 in New Lynn today.
cassina1,
Jan 11, 7:32pm
I wonder in what countries in the world people have stopped buying petrol for it to drop so much?
mojo49,
Jan 11, 9:04pm
Price drop caused by increase in supply of mainly USA fuel produced from shale. USA production now at record levels. OPEC hopes if the price stays down long enough it will prevent more production investment and demand will catch up with increased supply. Anyone remember all the panic about "Peak Oil" and the end of cheap fuel? Long term oil price trend is down not up. New cleaner technologies and alternative energy sources becoming more cost efficient will reduce demand for OPEC oil long before their supplies run out. They know it and their smart people have been saying that for years. That is why they are not pulling back production now. They need to get the best price for the stuff while they can. It is like the demand and supply curve that existed for coal 100 years ago. Same outcome.
zetec,
Jan 11, 9:10pm
Hi Smac, sorry I was away so didn't reply earlier. The thing is, the cost of crude and refined product is determined at global price levels, and the only variables are freight, exchange rates and local taxes. The fact, when all the variables are removed, we pay in NZ (at least in Wellington and the South Island) around 30% more than the average in an Australian city, is not fair and reasonable. The main difference is lack of competition in locations where Gull is not present, which includes Wellington. I pay no attention to profit margins in published accounts of the oil companies, accounting is subject to any number of dodges, transfer pricing and so on. The public cannot influence the price charged, it is only government who can influence the competitive playing field when it is not level, so as to force a competitive environment. For example, why isn't Gull in the Wellington market? It seems strange, are the other companies exercising some power to keep them out? Who knows, all I know is I have to pay more for a commodity like petrol than is fair.
ebygum1,
Jan 11, 11:05pm
I didn't look at the petrol price,but Diesel was 99.9 cents at Caltex Maungataroto on Sunday. Cheapest I have seen it for a very long time.
tgray,
Jan 14, 6:42pm
Mobil New Lynn at $1.609 How low will it go? Is it possible we will see $1.00 p/litre again? Remember, it was $2.22 just last year.
mgmad,
Jan 14, 8:20pm
Where do you get 30% from? Above you say 18c/litre, at ~1.60 /litre that's more like 11%.
Ignoring posted profit margins on what is perhaps the most transparent market going doesn't lend a lot of credibility to your argument.
bill-robinson,
Jan 14, 8:29pm
nothing to do with the size of the market then?
intrade,
Jan 14, 8:48pm
bp riverside whangarei just refueld its tanks 96 cent for diesel with 8 cant AA discount would make it 88cent a liter .
intrade,
Jan 14, 9:12pm
here is a website its not english only the 3 swiss languages tcs is basically the same as the AA you can calculate there currency in to nz$ swiss frank is usually 20% click währung and select NZD form list to get it all in nz$ http://www.tcs.ch/de/reisen-camping/reiseinfos/themen/benzinpreise.php
zetec,
Dec 28, 3:31am
I looked at the difference between Australia and New Zealand national average price per litre of 91 RON. Australian average for December is $1.28 and New Zealand is $1.91. You can't compare the raw number, because excise is $0.386 in Australia, and $0.671 in New Zealand. The GST is 10% in Australia and 15% in New Zealand and today's NZ$ is worth .9558 A$.
After doing the maths to eliminate the variables, we pay 18 cents per litre more than Australian drivers. That is a disgrace. The government has no interest in taking action against the oil companies as the high price increases the GST take. If the NZ$ reaches parity I wonder what excuses the oil companies will trot out.
jmma,
Dec 28, 3:42am
It has to come further to get here!
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