The falling petrol price has been a boon for the great Kiwi summer road trip but more big price drops are looking unlikely in the short-term, according to the AA.
The cost of 91 Octane is now 172.9c per litre at major retailers. That's about 19.2 cents per less than at those outlets three months ago.
Petrol company Gull, a market minnow, yesterday ordered all stations where it controlled pricing to sell diesel for less than $1 a litre. And some Gull stations even had 91 Octane edging down to $1.52 a litre.
But motorists hoping to see $1.50 petrol prices at major retailers could be waiting a long time, with the AA saying the falling New Zealand dollar was offsetting falls in the cost of crude oil.
AA senior policy analyst Mark Stockdale said it was unlikely prices at major retailers would change over the weekend. But he was concerned about the falling kiwi dollar, which was already increasing the cost of fuel imports.
Gull's price limit of $0.999 per litre for diesel applied to the company's sites and marinas from Whangarei to Masterton.
Gull was able to offer lower prices than industry giants at some locations partly because it had lower overheads.
Dave Bodger, Gull New Zealand general manager, said the company would stick to the $1 diesel limit for a while. "That diesel price will be wedged in until at least after the weekend."
But Mr Bodger said any petrol or diesel price forecasts for later next week would be "guesses" at best.
Mr Bodger said he didn't expect much movement in the price of 91 over the next few days.
"It's still summer over most of the country. Most of our people are in summer mode. I can't see anybody tearing themselves away from an ale at 4 o'clock to change fuel prices."
How far can you go?
The top-selling car in New Zealand is the Toyota Corolla. The average New Zealand car is about 12 to 13 years old.
According to the Dog and Lemon Guide, a 2003 Toyota Corolla 1.8 litre car has fuel economy of 9.9km per litre to 10.1 litres for every 100km.
Today the Toyota Corolla should need at most 10 litres for a 100km journey - costing about $17.29 at $172.9 a litre.
Fifty dollars today at that price would get 28.92 litres of fuel, enough for at least a 289km trip. That's easily enough to drive from downtown Auckland to Taupo -- a journey impossible for the car three months ago when $50 would have only bought enough fuel for the car to go 234km.
Fifty dollars would buy enough fuel for the Toyota to make trip from Queen Street to Kerikeri, and still have 47km of scenic side-trips to go before needing a top-up.
Travelling from Wellington, the car would make it to Ohakune on $50 of fuel with about 4km to spare. Last October, the car would have run out of gas 52km before reaching Ohakune.
For $50, the car would easily make the journey from Christchurch across the Southern Alps to Greymouth, and could continue north to Paparoa National Park.
From the Octagon in Dunedin, $50 would get the car to holiday hotspot Queenstown with 7km to spare. Three months ago, the car would have stopped shortly after reaching Cromwell.
- John Weekes of the NZME. News Service
