Motorists rush to pump to beat hike

WELLINGTON: Motorists have been rushing to petrol pumps before an expected hike in fuel prices.

Global oil prices have jumped by 18% after drone attacks in Saudi Arabia cut off an estimated 5% of global demand.

Local fuel retailers have suggested pump prices here might rise between 5c and 10c a litre.

There are 400,000 New Zealanders monitoring fuel prices in their neighbourhoods through the Gaspy app, which shares the cheapest fuel prices by area.

Its developer, Mike Newton, said he was expecting a flurry of activity when the rise occurs, and he was among those who rushed to the pumps yesterday.

‘‘I went to fill up about 10am when most people are already at work and the petrol station was chocker with people.’’

Economist Cameron Bagrie said yesterday a third of fuel prices at the pump were passedon import costs, meaning petrol prices would go up.

‘‘It’s entirely reasonable to expect them to pass on a fair bit of that to consumers, unfortunately.

‘‘It’s a consequence of what we’re seeing around the globe at the moment.

‘‘We’re going to start seeing a bit of pain at the pump and we’re not talking about a small number,’’ Mr Bagrie said.

Z Energy chief executive Mike Bennetts said whatever happened in international markets flowed through to its prices here.

‘‘Our typical practice is to look at what happens on those international markets for a day or two because sometimes you can get a move up or down that gets reversed the next day.

‘‘We typically take 24 to 48 hours to see what’s happening in markets and then determine what that means for the pump price.’’

In statements, both BP and Mobil said they would not speculate on future fuel price rises at the pump.

‘‘Our prices are reflective of the barrel price on international markets amongst other influencing factors so it’s possible there could be an impact on local prices later this week but we wouldn’t want to speculate,’’ BP said.

‘‘We review our BP Connect prices every day so our prices are as competitive as possible.’’

Mobil said its retail fuel prices were influenced by factors including excise duties and taxes, product costs, exchange rates, transportation, retailing costs and local market competition.

Automobile Association petrol prices spokesman Mark Stockdale said we did not buy much oil from Saudi Arabia but there would still be a global effect if supply was reduced.

‘‘What this is about is global supply of oil and, as we know, one of the key uses of oil is to refine that into petrol or diesel.

‘‘If there’s a reduction in the global supply of oil, it’ll likely have an impact on the cost of petrol or diesel regardless of where it’s sourced from.’’ — RNZ