Hon Jim Anderton

Member of Parliament for Wigram

16 May 2011 Media Statement

Petrol price margins at record high

Petrol companies are making record margins on fuel prices, a government survey of petrol price margins shows, and Progressive Wigram MP Jim Anderton says the fuel companies are too slow to reduce prices.

“Petrol prices are always fast to increase and slow to fall. At the moment, the price is high because the government has taken its eye off the ball and the petrol companies know they won’t face any pressure for soaking the New Zealand consumer,” Jim Anderton said.

“I call on petrol companies to drop retail prices now. The 3 cents a litre some companies dropped this morning is a fraction of the increased margin they are making.”

The Ministry of Economic Development’s oil price margin monitoring shows petrol companies were making a margin of 29 cents a litre last week – nearly double the average margin last year.

http://www.med.govt.nz/upload/65514/Graphs.pdf

“Excessive fuel prices are not just bad for consumers, they’re bad for business too. The cause of high petrol prices right now is greed,” Jim Anderton said.

ENDS

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