Competition gets approval
The arrival of Gull petrol has sparked a great deal of interest among New Plymouth members of neighbourly.co.nz with most pleased that there is now competition.
However many bemoaned the fact that it took an outsider to arrive to drive prices down. New Plymouth seems to be still at a disadvantage when compared with other centres. In Te Kuiti petrol can be around $1.64.
On January 16 petrol cost $2.08.9 and that applied to the big four, BP, Z, Mobil and Caltex. It’s easy to see why people think those petrol companies are in collusion about the prices they charge. When Gull opened here those four companies dropped their prices.
A call by the AA in late January to look into prices charged was met with general approval, although some remained cynical.
‘‘We have heard this all before from the AA and they will reply as they have in the past, that everything is fine with the price,’’ posted Ralph Bryant.
‘‘Finally some action is to be taken on the closed shop pricing rort that has been in place for so long, in the NP City area, re petrol prices,’’ said Tom Waite. ‘‘The AA should have been at the leading investigative edge of this rort, but its silence has actually been deafening !!!!!
‘‘The whole business needs a
‘‘ Our food prices seem to be scrutinised all the time, why not our fuel prices?’’
Michelle Ross
public, in-depth inquiry, into the wholesaling and inflated distribution cost, and the gross margins at the retail point,’’ says Waite.
‘‘The whole NZ market is so small that it can be manipulated easily by what oil majors are left in NZ, importing fuels, and the refinery costings, which they also own; at the same time.’’
‘‘I think the price of fuel is ridiculous,’’ says Michelle Ross. ‘‘Our food prices seem to be scrutinised all the time, why not our fuel prices?’’
It’s hard to argue with that. Last week Energy Minister Judith Collins announced that petrol companies faced a government inquiry into whether the prices they were charging were fair. It’s almost as if she has been reading our posts.
The advent of social media sites such as Neighbourly has led to ordinary people being ready and willing to voice their opinions. The people who make the decisions need to learn to listen, especially because this is election year. Just look what happened in the United States.