Petrol prices! Collins to get to the bottom of it

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#1714020 1-Feb-2017 15:55

RickW: You guys are lucky, There is pretty much no price competition in Christchurch that I've found apart from npd in Hornby which has diesel 18c cheaper.

Last time I was in Christchurch, that NPD was the only place that had petrol at a price cheaper than the "national price"

Here in Dunedin, Pak N Save Fuel is 2c cheaper than the "national price", as is the Mobil down the road and Challenge in Caversham is 1c cheaper.
Otherwise its all the same at every store

I was amazed when I travelled from Wellington to Palmerston North in late 2014 and saw such a price difference between stations

mattwnz

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#1714081 1-Feb-2017 17:06

nzkiwiman:

RickW: You guys are lucky, There is pretty much no price competition in Christchurch that I've found apart from npd in Hornby which has diesel 18c cheaper.

Last time I was in Christchurch, that NPD was the only place that had petrol at a price cheaper than the "national price"

Here in Dunedin, Pak N Save Fuel is 2c cheaper than the "national price", as is the Mobil down the road and Challenge in Caversham is 1c cheaper.
Otherwise its all the same at every store

I was amazed when I travelled from Wellington to Palmerston North in late 2014 and saw such a price difference between stations

Maybe they think people in Wellington can pay more because the incomes are on average some of the highest in the country? But much of the Petrol has has a very small distance to travel, as it comes from Seaview, so really we should be paying less I would have thought? We do seem to have very few petrol stations these days to choose from in the Wellington regions. Many have been removed, and the brands have reduced too.

timmmay

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#1714086 1-Feb-2017 17:16

mattwnz:

Maybe they think people in Wellington can pay more because the incomes are on average some of the highest in the country? But much of the Petrol has has a very small distance to travel, as it comes from Seaview, so really we should be paying less I would have thought? We do seem to have very few petrol stations these days to choose from in the Wellington regions. Many have been removed, and the brands have reduced too.

Johnsonville has Z, BP, Mobil, and Challenge all within a 1 minute drive of each other. Z and BP are almost directly over the road from each other.

dipper

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#1714093 1-Feb-2017 17:47

At Christmas I noticed that the price for petrol in Wanaka was 18 cents a litre higher than Christchurch for the two service stations on the main road that are about 100 meters apart (Caltex and BP) but if you drive about two minutes to the industrial land past the police station you pay the same price as Christchurch.

The lack of price competition in Christchurch is frustrating when you look as other cities

sbiddle

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#1714094 1-Feb-2017 17:50

The sooner all discounting is capped at 4cpl maximum for Smartfuel and Supermarket dockets the better. Australia realised a few years ago when petrol discounts started hitting 40c that the market was being seriously skewed and so they banned all discounting in excess of 4cpl.

The AA live in their own fantasy world in total denial that SmartFuel has been a significant contributor to rising retail margins.

mattwnz

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#1714099 1-Feb-2017 18:19

timmmay:

mattwnz:

Maybe they think people in Wellington can pay more because the incomes are on average some of the highest in the country? But much of the Petrol has has a very small distance to travel, as it comes from Seaview, so really we should be paying less I would have thought? We do seem to have very few petrol stations these days to choose from in the Wellington regions. Many have been removed, and the brands have reduced too.

Johnsonville has Z, BP, Mobil, and Challenge all within a 1 minute drive of each other. Z and BP are almost directly over the road from each other.

Isn't Challenge owned by Caltex, who is now owned by Z?. Also Mobil is looks like it maybe purchased by Caltex Australia, who looks like they own Gull. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/87948808/Caltex-Australia-Mobil-Oil-NZ-deal-tipped-by-analyst . So although there may look to be a lot of different companies, the companies look like they operate multiple brands.

In my area they have removed at least 3 petrol stations, and not built any new ones, and we don't have a Challenge in the area.

mattwnz

20164 posts

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#1714102 1-Feb-2017 18:21

sbiddle:

The sooner all discounting is capped at 4cpl maximum for Smartfuel and Supermarket dockets the better. Australia realised a few years ago when petrol discounts started hitting 40c that the market was being seriously skewed and so they banned all discounting in excess of 4cpl.

The AA live in their own fantasy world in total denial that SmartFuel has been a significant contributor to rising retail margins.

Yes, we need to follow Australia on this.

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GGJohnstone

86 posts

Master Geek

#1714341 2-Feb-2017 09:53

If it is at all possible: The consumer has a responsibility to seek the lower price and avoid supporting higher prices.

I have very few petrol choices due to a lack of population. I will weep tears of blood if the lower cost station falls over because of lazy thoughtless motorists who buy from across the road because there was no one waiting at those pumps.

Hokitika enjoying Christchurch prices for the moment.

frankv

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#1714486 2-Feb-2017 14:33

The Gull effect seems to have petered out. However, there *is* the Waitomo effect! Waitomo is an independent fuel retailer, with automated filling stations at Levin, Bulls, and elsewhere.

Bulls Waitomo price is 179.9/l for 91, whereas BP & Mobil just down the road are 191.9.

Geese

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#1714515 2-Feb-2017 15:18

Waitomo gets their fuel from mobil. I wrote them an email last week which went unanswered, about since mobil is across the road more or less and their 91 is E3, is your fuel also E3, or is no Waitomo fuel E3?

alliao

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Ultimate Geek

#1714524 2-Feb-2017 15:33

Gull definitely isn't as aggressive as before, hopefully they get some Techron goodness.... otherwise what's the point, challenge all over again.

Waitomo did have some 20c difference, not sure about ethanol though. In any case I lean towards newer petrol stations above else, fuel usually contains less water.

mattwnz

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#1714545 2-Feb-2017 16:37

alliao:

Gull definitely isn't as aggressive as before, hopefully they get some Techron goodness.... otherwise what's the point, challenge all over again.

Waitomo did have some 20c difference, not sure about ethanol though. In any case I lean towards newer petrol stations above else, fuel usually contains less water.

Is that after Caltex in Oz purchased them?

Oblivian

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#1714565 2-Feb-2017 17:18

It's a tricky wee web they weave. You often hear of the big 3 and people go 'what about the other stations..' Well after takeover and takeover:

Z (15.4% refinery stake) -> Caltex NZ -> Challenge
Also appears to have a supply agreement Farmlands Fuel -> Challenge which is.. odd.

Exxon -> Mobil (Oil NZ Ltd) 17.2% refinery stake -> Mobil
Supply: Mobil -> NPD

Supply: BP -> G.A.S

Caltex (Australia) -> Gull (NZ)
(Independent import and supply)

I do laugh with all their 'we clean your fuel' variants of adverts. We all know it comes from the same place for the main ones!

Goodness knows what that now means for Gull, if they shift to local supply or remain a competitor to Z (Caltex NZ)

tdgeek

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#1714643 2-Feb-2017 19:51

Dulouz:

I live in Wellington and the price drives me nuts. Strangely there is a 6 cents difference between stations in Petone and Central Lower Hutt. Two Z stations, 800m apart completely different prices. Don't get be started on the price differential between Wellington and Masterton.

That could be when they re filled the tanks. But what gets me is I pay retail, or I go to Mobil Hornby and get 10c off, or I buy $200 groceries and get 40c off. Or any other deal.

Bunnings has NO SALES OR DISCOUNTS. Always low prices. But then again Jude ain't going after them.

Back in the day, fuel price will drop, Gas stations run low. Fuel price is going to increase, buy now, charge more later. I knew a gas station owner, easy money.

alliao

321 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1714706 2-Feb-2017 21:20

mattwnz:

Is that after Caltex in Oz purchased them?

does feel that way!

Oblivian:

It's a tricky wee web they weave. You often hear of the big 3 and people go 'what about the other stations..' Well after takeover and takeover:

Z (15.4% refinery stake) -> Caltex NZ -> Challenge
Also appears to have a supply agreement Farmlands Fuel -> Challenge which is.. odd.

Exxon -> Mobil (Oil NZ Ltd) 17.2% refinery stake -> Mobil
Supply: Mobil -> NPD

BP

Supply: BP -> G.A.S

Caltex (Australia) -> Gull (NZ)
(Independent import and supply)

I do laugh with all their 'we clean your fuel' variants of adverts. We all know it comes from the same place for the main ones!

Goodness knows what that now means for Gull, if they shift to local supply or remain a competitor to Z (Caltex NZ)

What really gets me, is the fact that NZ isn't huge, so the smart people have invested and constructed a good framework for producing quality fuel, with a massive refinery achieving good economy of scale for all. Then they try and compete with each other with an fundamentally equivalent product?!

The clean your fuel angle is fine, they can dose it with whatever additives they want, or compete on services like we sell this or that to save you some time going to the dairy etc, but the recent supermarket vouchers and smartfuel literally doesn't save anyone time, distorts price signals, invests a big deal in IT projects with poor ROI, and for what? Better demand data? But the refinery end probably already knows well enough!

Boggles the mind. </rant

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