KEY POINTS:
Petrol companies have rejected the Automobile Association's call for them to reverse Tuesday's fuel price rises, saying there is no room to move.
AA policy analyst Mark Stockdale said a fall in the international price of both diesel and petrol, coupled with a slight gain in the New
Zealand dollar, justified a fall in price ahead of the long weekend.
"Given oil companies have been very prompt raising prices, we expect they should be equally prompt in reducing them," Mr Stockdale said.
Mr Stockdale said petrol companies should drop petrol by six cents a litre and diesel by five cents a litre.
Petrol companies, led by BP, raised their petrol prices by six cents a litre and diesel by three cents a litre on Tuesday.
It was the fifth rise of the year. Petrol has so far gone up 26 cents at some petrol stations since January 14.
BP spokeswoman Diana Stretch said BP's prices were "exactly where we should be".
She said since December the Singapore price had gone up 29.5 cents and with GST added, 33.1 cents and the price at the pump in New Zealand has gone up 33 cents.
She said if there hadn't been a slight decrease in the international price then the price at the pump could have risen again.
"We spent a significant portion of January, losing money at the pump" Ms Stretch said.
Caltex spokeswoman Sharon Buckland said Caltex would review prices again on Monday.
She said, based on the latest figures, there was room to move half a cent.
Gull retail business manager Graham Stirk said there was no room to move today. He said his company would review prices again tomorrow morning.
He described the drop in the international price as a "very minor movement".
Mobil spokesman Alan Bailey said the company not only looks at what the dollar and international price of fuel is doing but also gathers analysis on what it is likely to do in the future.
When asked if there were enough factors to drop the price, Mr Bailey said the company did not forecast its intentions.
"We haven't seen justification to move up or down but that may change," Mr Bailey said.
Petrol companies blamed Tuesday's rise on the cost of refined product and the weakening New Zealand Dollar.
But Mr Stockdale said based on the international price of petrol and diesel on the Singapore market, petrol company margins were "above average".
Shell did not return phone calls.
- NZHERALD STAFF
