Whangarei motorists complaining about the latest petrol price hike are enjoying some of the cheapest petrol prices in the country, with motorists elsewhere paying for it, the Automobile Association says.
AA PetrolWatch spokesman Mark Stockdale said intense competition in the Whangarei market - rather than the proximity to the Marsden Pt Oil Refinery - meant the city was enjoying some of the cheapest petrol prices in the country, "and long may it continue."
He urged Northland motorists to shop around to avoid the impact of a 3 cents a litre petrol tax hike this week, with some service stations passing on the costs, some holding off for now and one in Whangarei even dropping its price.
However, BP Riverside, which dropped its price for 91 octane petrol by 4c a litre still has the most expensive fuel of the five Whangarei outlets monitored by the Northern Advocate at 205.9 cents a litre.
Yesterday, the Government imposed a 3c a litre tax hike on petrol and it was then up to petrol companies if they passed the rise, and associated half a cent a litre GST rise, on to customers at the pumps.