Petrol and diesel prices increased during May, but the AA says retailers should be cutting diesel prices, not raising them.

After fuel prices rose slightly during April, they fell 2-3 cents per litre in early May, before increasing 4 cents per litre later in the month. Overall, after beginning the month on $2.18 per litre, petrol prices ended the month on $2.19 per litre at most brands, while diesel prices ended the month 2 cents per litre higher at $1.51 per litre at most service stations.

“The increase in pump prices follows small rises in international commodity prices for petrol, and a 1 cent fall in the New Zealand dollar during May.

“But despite this, the cost of importing diesel has not risen at all during the month, unlike petrol,” says AA PetrolWatch spokesperson Mark Stockdale.

“The AA’s monitoring shows the importer margin on diesel prices – the difference between retail prices and costs – is now 5 cents per litre higher than on petrol. In our view, retail diesel prices should not have increased at all, and fuel companies need to be cutting diesel prices now,” Mr Stockdale says.

According to AA PetrolWatch, the last time commodity prices were this high motorists were paying $2.18 per litre for 91 octane and $1.50 per litre for diesel, and the exchange rate was worth the same as it is now.

For more information, go to AA Petrolwatch.

For more information contact:

Mark Stockdale
AA PetrolWatch Spokesperson
New Zealand Automobile Association
T. +64 4 931 9986
M. +64 21 434 097
E. mstockdale@aa.co.nz

The New Zealand Automobile Association is an incorporated society with more than one million members. It represents the interests of road users who collectively pay more than $2 billion in taxes each year through fuels excise, road user charges and GST.