Motorists dealt a second price shock at the pumps

Motorists yesterday suffered their second price shock in a week, and a weakened kiwi dollar also helped push diesel to a new peak.

The latest petrol rise of 2c a litre means the price has jumped 6c since Tuesday, to the level it reached a month ago, equalling its highest price since Hurricane Katrina drove 91-octane petrol to a record $1.56c in September.

Most urban service stations are now selling 91-octane for $1.48c a litre and 95-octane for $1.53c.

The main oil companies, which refrained from raising their diesel price when lifting petrol by 4c on Tuesday, increased it yesterday by 3c a litre.

This has pushed diesel to $1.09c a litre, setting a record, although Australian-owned Gull Petroleum promised last night that it would hold at $1.06c before reviewing its price next week.

Automobile Association spokesman Mike Noon said the price rises were really disappointing for motorists and expressed concern at the impact of a weaker New Zealand dollar on their wallets.

The kiwi dollar rallied to 66.33USc late yesterday, after dipping to 65.63USc on Wednesday night, but is lower than it has been for most of the past 18 months.

Mr Noon expressed concerned at the impact of low-sulphur fuel regulations on diesel, making it more expensive to buy against competing demand from Australian consumers.

Although some motorists have in the past year or two switched from petrol to diesel vehicles in pursuit of cheaper fuel, the cost benefits have all but evaporated after road-user charges are taken into account.

This is because the driver of a light diesel vehicle travelling 10km a litre will pay 14c a kilometre compared with only a marginally higher 14.8c for 91-octane petrol over the same distance.

The 14c cost to the diesel user comprises 10.9c for the fuel itself, and a road user charge of 3.1c a kilometre.