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Pain at the pump: Petrol prices expected to rise to $3.50 a litre by Christmas

Author
RNZ,
Publish Date
Tue, 19 Sep 2023, 12:43pm
Photo / 九一星空无限
Photo / 九一星空无限

Pain at the pump: Petrol prices expected to rise to $3.50 a litre by Christmas

Author
RNZ,
Publish Date
Tue, 19 Sep 2023, 12:43pm

Retail petrol prices are forecast to rise to as much as $3.50 a litre for 91 octane by Christmas.

Rising oil prices and a weak New Zealand dollar were putting pressure on petrol prices, with the听New Zealand听dollar trading around 59.2 US cents ahead of Tuesday鈥檚 US Federal Reserve鈥檚 announcement on interest rates.

AA principal motoring affairs policy advisor Terry Collins said the closure of the Marsden Refinery had added to price of fuel, with unprocessed Brent crude prices rising to US$95.00 a barrel overnight - their highest level this year.

鈥淭he premium grades are already over $3.50 in some places. We鈥檙e getting close to $3.12 for average price of 91 (octane). I鈥檇 imagine it would be over $3.20 within about a fortnight and we could be by Christmas closer to $3.50 than $3.鈥

The supply deficit was expected to continue through the last quarter of the year as two of the world鈥檚 largest producers, Saudi Arabia and Russia, extended supply cuts, while most others in the OPEC+ group were also curbing output.

Retail petrol prices are forecast to rise to as much as $3.50 a litre for 91 octane by Christmas. Photo / Michael Cunningham Retail petrol prices are forecast to rise to as much as $3.50 a litre for 91 octane by Christmas. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Collins said refining costs were also on the rise with a limited amount of global capacity, which would also affect the production of aviation fuel.

鈥淪o don鈥檛 expect air flights to be going down because fuel prices will be going up in that regard as well.鈥

The fuel tax and full-priced public transport fares were reinstated from July 1.

The government鈥檚 move to reduce fuel excise duty and road user charges by 25 cents a litre was initially introduced in March 2022 for three months, in recognition of the volatility of the global fuel market and cost of living pressures.

It was later extended into 2023 and has now ended.

-Nona Pelletier,听RNZ

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