What more would you expect from ideologically driven political decisions (worldwide) ? This is the inevitable conclusion of decisions made in the past decade
Politicians, bureaucrats and "the elites" with no concept of how the real world/ economy works, with their frenzied agenda to "save the world" and be morally superior, are destroying the livelihoods and lives of hundreds of millions of citizens (probably billions by the time this all works its way through the system ).
Anyone surprised by this hasn't been paying attention, all this time.
I can actually remember Willie and JT talking about this on the radio about 15 years ago.
- Matthew S
NZ is starting to pay the long-term price (countless billions) for closing the refinery. Although "Think Big" occurred in the early days of the era of idiocy, it was conducted by those who had gained valuable experience in war, business, etc in the previous era.
Now, the present excuse for a Government has sat on its hands and left the national treasure to be destroyed by new right private enterprise.
Those who let it happen without a whimper don't deserve sympathy. As for NZ's economy - same old, same old in the dive from third-fourth in the world to 30th-40th now and 40th-50th soon.
- Ken L
Global diesel demand increases in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) winter as both Europe and the US use it for heating (as well as road fuel).
At the same time, gasoline demand decreases in the NH winter as people drive less.
On top of this, there is a shortage of refinery capacity in Europe due to closures, and next month, Russian oil will be banned.
That means Europe needs to import huge amounts from the US and Asia.
NZ has to compete with that to obtain its diesel needs and the price becomes higher.
The additional reason why gasoline is getting cheaper than diesel is that the global economy is shrinking and there is less demand for Naphtha, which is used for both making plastics and making gasoline.
With less consumer demand for goods made from plastic, Naphtha is cheaper and so is producing gasoline.
- Philip M
Another recently attributed the costs to "constrained global refinery capacity" and a "tightened diesel market", and said it made up to 50 price changes daily based on overhead costs or local competition, so prices may vary between towns.
I mean how stupid are the bureaucrats that decided to get rid of the Marsden refinery. One big cracker going off on the other side of the world will see us all walking to empty shops!
- John Y
The problem is a shortage of crude oil suitable for refining into diesel.
You guessed it, from the Urals in Russia. Lots of sour or heavy crude isn't suitable but this stuff is ideal. So blame Vlad if that makes you feel better.
Funnily enough diesel vehicles haven't reduced in price compared to their petrol equivalent, yet.
- Denzil P
What frustrates me is the continual breeding of speed humps or whatever they are now called. How can you drive smoothly with these things? I see my fuel consumption increasing with each new one of these - brake, bump, accelerate, and repeat...
- Mike S
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