Ask Phoebe: Fractions at the pump help fuel seem cheaper

Our fuel price is set by the international price of crude oil, the currency exchange rate, and taxes levied on fuel, which include GST, ETS and excise duty. Photo / APN

Petrol prices to three decimal places can save a few cents when it all adds up.

Would you ask someone in the petrol industry to explain why petrol at the pump is priced to the third decimal place - a thousandth of a cent? Considering our smallest coin is a 10c piece, petrol price billboards are ridiculous. I find this even more ludicrous than dealers pricing a vehicle at $29,999.99. Ron Davis, Albany

Our fuel price is set by the international price of crude oil, the currency exchange rate, and taxes levied on fuel, which include GST, ETS and excise duty.

The AA's PetrolWatch spokesman, Mark Stockdale, says the average price for 91 octane is now $2.199 a litre, displayed as 219.9c a litre. If you bought 50 litres, it would cost $109.95; if it were rounded to $2.20 a litre it would cost $110 or an extra 5c.

Mr Stockdale says this type of pricing is common for bulk consumables such as petrol as well as groceries.

It is a marketing ploy to make products look cheaper - $1.999 a litre looks cheaper than $2 a litre, for example; $29,999.99 for a car looks cheaper than $30,000.

Fuel and grocery retailers can do this because people are often making a large purchase so it gets rounded, or they are likely to pay by credit card or eftpos which can transact decimal values less than 10c.

A spokeswoman for fuel company Z, Christine Langdon, agrees, saying it's not likely a customer would buy just a litre of fuel, so every cent, or 0.9 of a cent, adds up over the full purchase.

Can you please tell me why workers doing excavation works in the Te Atatu/Rosebank Rd area by the Northwestern Motorway are wearing asbestos suits with face masks and gloves and loading material into plastic lined trucks? It's concerning when I have to cycle past them and see it all. Is it safe to cycle or walk past? Brendon Smith, West Auckland.

The Transport Agency discovered low levels of asbestos near Rosebank Park Domain during its work to upgrade the Northwestern Motorway between Great North Rd and Te Atatu.

Safety measures are in place to ensure the material is removed securely, and the removal process and the site are being monitored carefully, and the Transport Agency has been able to keep the motorway and adjoining cycleway open.

It's understood that the material was included in fill taken from a building site in central Auckland about 20 years ago, and the Transport Agency plans to have it removed by the end of this month.

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