KEY POINTS:
Motorists and truckies have had their first break in five months from the fuel price spiral.
Cuts of 4c a litre yesterday for petrol and diesel were the first offered by oil companies since February.
But the Automobile Association, while welcoming the cuts, noted that petrol prices were still about 47c a litre higher than the last time the companies took their feet off the pedals.
Regular-grade 91-octane petrol now costs 214.9c at most main-centre pumps.
And diesel, at 187.9c, is still 68c more expensive than in mid-February.
Neither does the diesel price count road user charges, which rose by an average of seven to eight per cent without warning this month, spurring protests by thousands of truck drivers and their employers.
Yesterday's price cuts followed a decline in the cost of imported refined fuel, coupled with a strengthening of the New Zealand dollar against the United States currency.
BP spokeswoman Diana Stretch said that although crude oil prices fell several days ago, it was not until Wednesday night that refined petrol and diesel imported from Singapore dropped, by about US$6 ($7.77c) a barrel.
AA motoring affairs manager Mike Noon acknowledged that the companies had been "reasonably quick" to pass on their cost savings, after having been similarly prompt to raise prices previously.
He said oil companies were being subjected to close public attention, while a Government-commissioned review of their pricing structure was being conducted, and amid reports of economic hardship such as an inability of some parents to drive their children to sports games.
Drivers filling their vehicles in Auckland yesterday afternoon were thankful for small mercies, while hoping for more.
"It's about bloody time," said Orewa-based plasterer Terry Wells, while filling his 1.8-litre Toyota van in Fanshawe St. "It should go down another $1 - but I suppose this is better than nothing."
Even so, yesterday's re-fuelling stop cost him $105.70c.
