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91 Petrol under $2 per litre
ELISA VORSTER
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Masterton motorists were flocking to fill up their tanks on Wednesday after two petrol stations dropped their 91 octane fuel prices to below $2 per litre.
But prices may have already reverted to above $2 per litre yesterday as no one could say how long the reprieve would last.
A quick scan of the region’s fuel prices found Gull Masterton had the lowest posted price for 91 octane on Wednesday at $1.997.
Staff member Ojas Patel said the prices were set by its head office in Auckland and had been changed at 9am Wednesday morning. The service station had been “super busy” after the price drop but was unsure whether the special would end Thursday or continue until today.
Mobil Queen St had a posted price of $1.999, but an extra 6 cents per litre discount available when spending $40 or more would have its reward-card members paying only $1.939 per litre.
Tom Wilson’s Allied Petrol in Martinborough had the cheapest diesel prices at $1.399 per litre.
Earlier in the week, Waitomo Petroleum service stations in some North Island towns dropped prices to $1.99 a litre for petrol.
AA principal adviser Mark Stockdale said global fuel prices and an improvement in the New Zealand dollar had helped drive prices down.
“From paying just under $2.50 a litre for 91-octane petrol in early October, now we’ve got prices down to about $2.15 in many parts of the country.
“So, it’s certainly quite a rapid reduction in fuel prices in a relatively short space of time.”
Stockdale said it was difficult to know if the lower prices would last.
“It’s always difficult to know what’s happening with prices and most of it is out of our control, it’s outside of fuel companies’ control, it’s outside of government’s control, it’s just global things that influence commodity prices.
“That’s the reason they rose not long ago to those highs and it’s the same reason that they’re falling.
“A month ago, when we were paying nearly $2.50 a litre I don’t think motorists thought they would see fuel prices under $2 again but that’s what we are seeing.”
