While the price of petrol and diesel have increased to their highest levels in 18 months, the price of liquefied petroleum gas is falling.
Nova Energy communications manager Cressida Gates said the price of lpg was decreasing because increased amounts of domestic lpg production had become available through the commissioning of the Kupe gas field in January.
Kupe is a gas and light oil-condensate field which lies in 35m of water in the offshore Taranaki basin, about 30km off the coast.
The first gas and liquids were piped ashore from the Kupe field last December and processed at a plant near Hawera.
The Kupe production system has been through a commissioning period and is now producing a full steady state of gas, lpg and light oil.
The commissioning of the gas field was good news for consumers who used lpg-fuelled vehicles, or gas for heating and cooking, she said.
"Kupe production has displaced imports of Australian lpg. In turn, this has meant that transtasman shipping costs are not being incurred to the extent that they have been over the past several years."
While forecasting future energy prices was always a complex exercise, she believed the price of lpg would remain relatively flat during the next 12 months after the initial impact of domestic Kupe production had been factored into the market.
"Because all wholesalers have differing retail sales prices, the percentage amount of decrease in prices will vary from supplier to supplier, which makes giving a percentage difficult."
