Petrol prices probably at their lowest: AA

AA says it is unlikely prices at big retailers will change over the weekend. Photo / Thinkstock

The falling petrol price has been a boon for the great Kiwi summer road trip but more big price drops look unlikely in the short term, says the AA.

The cost of 91 octane is now 172.9c a litre at big retailers. That's about 19.2c a litre less than three months ago.

Gull, a market minnow, yesterday ordered all stations where it controlled pricing to sell diesel for less than $1 a litre.

And some Gull stations even had 91 octane edging down to $1.52 a litre. But motorists hoping to see $1.50 petrol prices at big retailers could be waiting a long time, with the AA saying the falling Kiwi dollar was offsetting falls in the cost of crude oil.

AA senior policy analyst Mark Stockdale said it was unlikely prices at big retailers would change over the weekend. But he was concerned about the falling dollar, which was already increasing the cost of fuel imports.

Gull's price limit of 99.9c per litre for diesel applied to the company's sites and marinas from Whangarei to Masterton.

Dave Bodger, Gull New Zealand general manager, said the company would stick to $1 diesel for a while, " ... until at least after the weekend".

But Mr Bodger said any petrol or diesel price forecasts for later next week would be guesses at best.

He said he didn't expect much movement in the price of 91 over the next few days.

"It's still summer over most of the country. Most of our people are in summer mode. I can't see anybody tearing themselves away from an ale at 4 o'clock to change fuel prices."

How far can you go?

• The top-selling car in New Zealand is the Toyota Corolla. The average New Zealand car is about 12 to 13 years old.

• According to the Dog and Lemon Guide, a 2003 1.8l Toyota Corolla has fuel economy of 9.9km per litre to 10.1 litres for every 100km.

• Today, the Toyota Corolla should need at most 10 litres for a 100km journey - costing about $17.29 at 172.9c a litre.

• $50 today at that price would get 28.92 litres of fuel, enough for at least a 290km trip. That's easily enough to drive from downtown Auckland to Taupo - a journey impossible three months ago when $50 would have only bought enough fuel for the car to go 234km.

• $50 would buy enough fuel for the Toyota to make a trip from Queen St to Kerikeri and still have 47km of scenic side-trips to go before needing a top-up.