New petrol-price war underway
Updated 1:40PM Tuesday May 01, 2007
By Mathew Dearnaley
Gull again sparked the price cutting and was then followed by other companies. File photo / Northern Advocate
Gull Petroleum has sparked another war at the pumps today with its 12-hour price cut for motorists stung by the latest general rise.
The family-owned West Australian company cut petrol and diesel prices by 5c a litre at 7am at most of its 30 outlets - all in the North Island - as a temporary respite from last week's 4c industry-wide hike.
That pulled the price for 91-octane petrol at most Gull stations down to 150.5c a litre, and to 94.9c for diesel, and to even lower levels at a handful of outlets in provincial centres.
Shell responded by saying it was reducing its price by 6 cents a litre from 7am to 7pm and Mobil and Caltex matched that drop.
Gull also increased its price cut by another cent.
Automobile Association general manager motoring affairs Mike Noon said motorists should seize the moment to fill up as the indicators were prices were being driven by competition, not a drop in costs for the petrol companies.
"If you were thinking about filling up, today could be a good day to fill up," he said.
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