By MATHEW DEARNALEY
Fuel prices threatened to spiral up again yesterday with a bid by BP to lead the market from a substantial drop last week.
The company lifted petrol by 2c a litre and diesel by 3c at about noon but, by late yesterday, had eased back after failing to provoke similar increases from rival suppliers.
This left petrol 3c cheaper than last week, at $1.139 for 91-octane at most main centre pumps, but diesel 2c dearer - at 70.9c.
Petrol dropped by 5c a litre last week to $1.119 and diesel by 2c to 66.9c, but the main brands lifted prices on Monday and Tuesday amid continuing volatility on world oil markets.
Although they raised petrol by just 2c to the present level, diesel users suffered a 4c hike after a sharp rise in the cost of refined product based on Singapore prices.
Diesel would have ended up 5c a litre dearer than last week had the other oil companies joined BP's rollercoaster ride yesterday. It could yet edge up when its sulphur content is reduced next month to make vehicle emissions cleaner.
BP spokeswoman Diana Stretch said her company was not the only one to move yesterday, but officials of the other three main suppliers denied any increases in their ranks.
The only movement the Herald could find was by smaller player Gull Petroleum, which simply fell into line with the others after holding out for most of the week at lower prices at a handful of service stations.
Stretch said BP abandoned its latest increases "for competitive reasons" but indicated another price rise for diesel was possible when the sulphur levels were reduced.
Market prices for lower sulphur diesel were about 1c to 2c higher than the existing fuel but could climb to 8c.
Shell spokesman Simon King, whose company led last week's price cuts, could not rule out more increases but said it did not intend recovering costs already incurred in preparing for the change to lower-sulphur diesel.
From August 1, diesel must have no more than 500 parts per million of sulphur compared with an Auckland limit now of 1000ppm and 2500ppm in the rest of New Zealand.
Gull spokesman Ulrik Olsen said his company managed to keep its diesel prices at or below those of the larger suppliers.
BP's punt on fuel price hike falls flat
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