Petrol prices may be set to fall

Falling international oil prices, the strong New Zealand dollar strong and a fuel company's short-term outlook all point to a possible fall in petrol prices.

The price of Dubai oil, from which most New Zealand petrol is refined, was today hovering around $63 a barrel -- down from about $68 a month ago.

Petrol companies spoken to today were coy on talk of lowering prices although Caltex said conditions were looking favourable short-term and BP said it was hopeful of lowering prices soon.

"At the moment some of the indicators are looking OK," said Caltex spokesman John Kerr. "But that could be a short-term situation because a lot of the indicators, especially over the long term, still look up.

"Conditions are favourable for looking at our prices."

BP spokesman Jonathan Hill said in the past three weeks there had been three separate price decreases on oil. "We don't make pricing decisions on one day's trading because the market is notoriously volatile," he said.

"(But) if the trend of a barrel of oil continues to go down and other factrors play their part, such as the exchange rate, hopefully we will be looking to reduce our prices soon."

Shell and Mobil would not reveal any plans on petrol prices.

- NZPA