KEY POINTS:
There was some good news for motorists today with Shell, BP and Mobil reducing petrol and diesel prices by 3c a litre.
The cut made 91 octane 139.9c a litre, 95 octane 144.9c and diesel 95.9c at all three companies. Caltex is dropping its prices by 3c a litre from midnight.
"It is very welcome news and particularly appropriate given the rising exchange rate and falling oil prices recently," said AA spokesman Simon Lambourne.
"Prices are now at a very similar level to this time last year, which is great news after the steep rises we had during the year."
In July last year 91 octane was 177c a litre and diesel 128c.
Shell spokeswoman Jackie Maitland said even though crude oil prices had gone down and the New Zealand dollar had gone up during the holidays, the price of refined oil had only moved down in the last few days.
She said Shell monitored prices daily and the various factors that went into setting prices at the pump were volatile.
Shell has about 230 stations around the country.
BP spokeswoman Greta Shirley said the cut was due to a drop in product price even though there had been a slight rebound in the price overnight.
Crude oil prices have fallen sharply as a result of a mild northern hemisphere winter, which has curbed fuel demand in top consumer, the United States.
The strength of the New Zealand dollar has also helped depress petrol prices even though the kiwi dollar has lost some of its strength in the last couple of days.
Dubai crude out of Singapore, most commonly used in New Zealand, has fallen in US dollars from US$62.36 at the start of the year to US$53.62. In New Zealand dollars, the price has dropped from $88.52 to $77.90.
- NZPA
