International and Domestic Petrol and Diesel Price Comparisons
For the week ending 11 July 2008 (updated 15 July 2008)
Graph 1: Weekly Average Price of Dubai Crude and the US$/NZ$ Exchange Rate
Source: Argus, Reserve Bank of New Zealand
Graph 1, above, shows the changes over the last two years of the two main determinants of oil-based fuels in New Zealand: the price of crude and the exchange rate. The exchange rate is US$/NZ$ and the price of crude is given in both US dollars per barrel and NZ dollars per barrel. The data points are non-weighted weekly averages.
Graph 2: Weekly Average Components of Regular Petrol Price
Sources: Argus, Hale Twomey, MED (for New Zealand prices), Reserve Bank of New Zealand
For the details of the tax component please see Duties, Taxes and Direct Levies on Motor Fuels (Excluding GST) (Cents per Litre).
Graph 2, above, shows the make up of the retail price of regular unleaded petrol. The graph breaks the retail price down into taxes and levies, importer cost, and importer margin. The importer cost is based on the Singapore benchmark petrol price plus an estimated quality premium and an assessment of the importation costs of freight, insurance, losses, and wharfage. The importer margin is calculated by the Ministry as the retail price less taxes and levies, and less the importer cost. That is, it is the margin available to the importer to cover domestic transportation, distribution and retailing costs, as well as wholesalers' and retailers' marketing margins. The importer margin is lagged by one week, i.e. we assume that retail prices this week are based on the importer costs of last week. Statistical analysis has shown this to be a reasonable assumption.
Graph 3: Weekly Average Components of Diesel Price
Sources: Argus, Hale Twomey, MED (for New Zealand prices), Reserve Bank of New Zealand
For the details of the tax component please see Duties, Taxes and Direct Levies on Motor Fuels (Excluding GST) (Cents per Litre). Diesel vehicle users must also pay road user charges on a per km basis, which is not included in the data and graphs on this webpage.
Graph 3, above, is the same structure as Graph 2, except that it focuses on diesel.
Graph 4: Quarterly Comparison of Petrol Price and Taxes in OECD Countries
Source: International Energy Agency (IEA)
The above graph compares the petrol price and tax over OECD countries. These prices are sourced from the IEA on a quarterly basis.
The weekly data used to produce the graphs is available to view online and can be downloaded as an Excel or CSV file.
The data and calculation process has recently been improved, as annotated on the graphs. Graphs using the old data and process are archived.
In order to provide weekly updates, the New Zealand petrol and diesel retail prices in these graphs are based on limited monitoring of service station forecourt prices by the MED. As such, they do not reflect all the variation due to regional pricing differences and discounts available to bulk diesel customers.
A more detailed analysis of the "importer margin" is carried out by the Ministry each quarter, using national average price data from Statistics New Zealand. This is published in the annual Energy Data File but the relevant pages are also available:
The data used was sourced from the following organisations: MED, US Energy Information Agency, Argus, Hale Twomey, and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
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Data Used to Produce Weekly Graphs
[ Published 05 April 2007 ]
Data used to produce the weekly International and Domestic Petrol and Diesel Price Comparisons graphs.
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Importer Margin Review
[ Published 12 October 2007 ]
This report reviews the impact of fuel discounting schemes on importer margin levels and considers the effect of biofuel obligation on importer margin calculations.
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Archive
Archive of International and Domestic Petrol and Diesel Price Comparisons using the old data and process.
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