KEY POINTS:
Drivers are paying more than ever for fuel after the latest round of price rises, and industry leaders say worse is to come.
Mobil raised its petrol prices yesterday by 4c a litre, matching the other three big oil companies, which moved late on Wednesday.
The only saving
grace is that the Government has decided not to adjust fuel tax in line with inflation on April 1, ahead of a host of new charges that oil giant BP says will add at least 35c to prices within 18 months.
BP predicted petrol would cost over $2 by September 2009.
Although industry minnow Gull will not decide until this morning whether to follow the big companies, general manager Dave Bodger warned that his import costs quoted from Singaporean refineries were continuing to rise in the shadow of record crude oil prices hovering around US$110 a barrel.
Main-brand service stations were last night charging motorists 177.9c a litre for 91-octane petrol - making it 40c dearer than early last year, and 1c higher than the previous record high, set in mid-2006.
Motorists are paying $20 more for a 50-litre fill-up than in January last year.
Diesel is also at a record 133.9c a litre at BP stations, although it is 4c cheaper at Shell, Mobil, Gull and most Caltex outlets.
BP spokeswoman Diana Stretch said the price her company paid for imported diesel had jumped 12 per cent in the past three weeks, compared with 6 per cent for petrol.
The Automobile Association welcomed word late yesterday that the Government had decided not to impose an annual inflation-adjusted increase on April 1 on petrol tax and on road-user charges for diesel - sparing motorists an extra charge of just over 1c a litre.
Transport Minister Annette King said it would no longer be appropriate to tie the charges to inflation under a new scheme, due to start in July, that will channel all fuel excise - now 42.524c a litre before GST - into the National Land Transport Fund.
But BP still predicts rises amounting to at least 35c a litre over the next 18 months from new or higher Government imposts.
It expects carbon emission charges from the beginning of next year to add about 8.5c a litre to petrol prices.
As well, there will be 7c extra for biofuel infrastructure and operating costs, a 2c increase in July on Accident Compensation Corporation levies, a regional fuel tax of up to 10c, excise increases of 4c, and GST on all these.
Ms Stretch said BP's prediction assumed no major weakening in the New Zealand dollar, which is staying above US80c.
If the dollar was worth only US60c, petrol prices would be "well over $2", she said.
* UP, UP, UP
Price of litre of 91-octane petrol
January 2007 137.9c
Today 177.9c
September 2009 At least 212.9c (based on BP's prediction of rises totalling at least 35c from new or increased Government charges).
Petrol remains cheaper than a litre of milk, which the Pak 'n' Save supermarket in Mt Roskill was selling for between $1.89c and $2.05c. But it is more expensive than bottled water and Coca-Cola.