Winter cheer at the petrol pump

Petrol is about $6 a tank cheaper than a year ago. Photo / APN

The news is looking good this winter for New Zealand motorists as the price of petrol falls.

It dropped 12c a litre last month, and could go below $2 a litre, according to the Automobile Association.

The price of 91 octane petrol fell to $2.05 a litre in the main centres, and diesel fell 10c to $1.42 a litre at most service stations, its lowest price since last July.

"Since mid-March, petrol prices have fallen 16c a litre, and diesel 13c, " said AA Petrolwatch spokesman Mark Stockdale.

"In all, fuel prices have fallen on seven consecutive occasions, the most since June 2012.

"However, the AA's monitoring of commodity prices shows that since the last retail price increase in mid-February, the imported cost of petrol has fallen nearly 19c a litre, and diesel 16c.

"That means fuel companies have not passed all of the lower costs on to motorists, although some service stations have discounted prices below $2 a litre."

This time last year, we were paying $2.20 a litre for 91 octane petrol and $1.57 a litre for diesel, meaning motorists buying 40 litres of petrol today will be saving about $6 a time.

"International fuel prices have been consistently falling due to lower global demand, and increased supply as refinery production comes back after shutting down for maintenance," said Stockdale.

"Although in the last few days oil prices have risen slightly, at current trends there is a good chance the price of 91 octane petrol will fall below $2 a litre soon, the first time since June and July last year."