What’s up with petrol?

Petrol prices in New Zealand are yet to return to levels before an air strike on a Saudi Arabian oil facility a month ago.

On September 15, drones were used to attack oil processing facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia causing the price of Brent crude, one of two global benchmark prices for oil, to jump US$6.45 (NZ$10.23) to trade at US$66.67 per barrel (159 litres).

In response, BP and Z Energy increased the price of petrol and diesel in New Zealand by 6 cents per litre. The petrol companies said the hike was due to the Saudi attacks and currency movement.

The New Zealand dollar had softened against the US dollar at the time.

One month on from the attacks and New Zealanders are still paying more for petrol despite oil prices dropping below pre-attack levels weeks ago.

On Saturday Brent crude traded at US$60.69.

Larry Green, from petrol price comparison app Gaspy, said that before the attack the national average price of 91 unleaded in New Zealand was $2.16.

After the attack it spiked to $2.22. Yesterday the national average was $2.19.

Green said petrol companies were quick to raise their prices in response to the attack but slow to return them to pre-attack levels.

Z and BP said there were a number of factors that influenced the price of fuel, oil prices being just one of them. Z spokeswoman Victoria Crockford said its prices were determined by a range of factors that changed daily, including but not limited to the cost of crude oil, foreign exchange rates, the cost of transport, the cost of site infrastructure and maintenance, and local competition in the area. ‘‘So, while Brent crude is a natural indicator for people to look to, and one we use in our overall equation, it is by no means a ‘cent for cent’ process in terms of our everyday pricing – neither when prices go up, nor when they go down.’’

Crockford said the cost to freight crude oil from the Middle East to New Zealand had increased up to 3 per cent off the back of US sanctions on Iran that implicated a large Chinese shipping company which shipped 3 per cent of global freight.

BP spokeswoman Anna Radich said its prices were reviewed every day to ensure they were as competitive as possible. ‘‘There are a number of influences on the price of fuel including the refined barrel price and exchange rate,’’ Radich said.

AA spokesman Mark Stockdale said tracking petrol price movements was difficult because there was such variation across the country.

‘‘There is just so much regional price disparity.’’

In some parts of the country prices hadn’t changed since before the Saudi attack, he said.

‘‘There is just so much regional price disparity.’’ AA spokesman Mark Stockdale