Petrol price nears $2.50, Govt points to margins

Another round of petrol price increases has motorists paying almost $2.50 in main centres, prompting calls for the Government to signal how it could intervene in the market.

Overnight on Thursday the major petrol companies added 4 cents a litre to petrol, taking 91 octane or ‘‘regular’’ petrol to $2.489 in many parts of the country.

In Auckland, where the Government has introduced a regional fuel tax, at least two stations are charging $2.499 a litre, according to crowd-sourced price-monitoring company Gaspy.

Some more remote areas are paying more, with motorists on Waiheke Island paying more than $2.70 a litre, while Caltex Wanaka in Central Otago is currently charging $2.639, according to Gaspy.

Motorists have faced a sharp series of hikes in recent months. In May, prices in many parts of New Zealand hit $2.30 for the first time.

In the past week prices are up 8c, with a nationwide increase in excise tax adding 4c a litre on Sunday.

The Government is passing legislation to enable the Commerce Commission to conduct market studies, which could prompt the competition watchdog to undertake a thorough investigation into whether the petrol market is competitive.

In the meantime, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is set to begin publishing new reports highlighting what makes up the price of petrol.

Although the figures are not new, the figures highlight the degree to which the margins on petrol have climbed since 2008.

Figures provided by the ministry suggest the margins to fuel companies have more than doubled since 2008, although in January were still below where they were in January 2015.

AA spokesman Mark Stockdale said the publication of MBIE figures may do little to add pressure, given the high level of debate around petrol already this year.

Stockdale said it was likely to be well over a year before the Government would be in a position to say with clarity that the market had competition problems.

In the meantime, he said, the Government could signal what it might do to intervene in the market to try to reduce prices for motorists.