The price of gas down under

[Kiwi cop]

Tuesday (kiwi time) i took Karen to Auckland for her regular medical check up. I filled the gas tank of the car before we left home, and a little over half way decided to top up to avoid the 10c/litre Auckland levy.

I put just over 18 litres (4 1/2 gallons) into the tank. Now a week ago in the U.S at around $3.25/gallon that would have cost me between US$14-15, NZ $25.60 at todays exchange rate. What it cost me was NZ$48.80, almost twice as much!

Coming home Wednesday I filled up again at the same place. 38 litres/9.75 gallons at NZ$101.80, around US$60. Last week that would have been US $32.

I think I am living in the South Pacific version of California.

 

[s&wchad]

Wow, over $10 NZD/gallon. Ouch! We're currently paying about $4 USD/gallon. inflation is hitting us pretty hard, but we seem to be doing better than a lot of other countries.

I know very little about New Zealand and was curious, so I did some digging. The comparison between NZ and my home State of Michigan is interesting.

The current exchange rate: 1 USD = 1.75 NZD

Averages can be very misleading, but these are the published numbers:
NZ income: $100,000 NZD
Michigan income: $79,500 USD

Your entire country is just a little bigger (sq miles) than Michigan. NZ has a population of about 5 million; Michigan has about 10 million. Good thing you don't have too far to drive!

NZ has 2 main islands (North and South). I'd guess you don't travel between them very often. Looks like it's about a 3-1/2 hour ferry trip. If you want to take your car and your wife, the fees I saw were around $575 NZD round trip. Double ouch!

Michigan has 2 Peninsula's (Upper and Lower) that are separated by water, but we've got a 5 mile long bridge. It's been a while, but I believe the fee is only around $5.

Does NZ have public transportation? We have very little here and almost everyone drives. Detroit was "The Motor City" and most families have at least 2 vehicles. In my area, SUV's and full size pickup's outnumber compact cars by about 2 to 1.

 

[John_M52]

I paid $6.71 / gal in Kalifornia for premium. Thought I got a deal because a station down the road was $7.10. About two weeks ago.

 

[glenwolde]

To be fair, a great deal of oil production is close to the area in the U.S. you visited. Not to mention the majority of the U.S. refining capacity is along the gulf coast. Prices in that area are usually lower than the rest of the U.S. because state taxes tend to be lower and transportation costs less.

 

[WR Moore]

I was wondering, do y'all import crude oil and refine or are you just importing the finished product?

 

[LVSteve]

$5/gallon and up at most stations in Vegas.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Try to buy it by the liter-it's cheaper that way.

 

[Kiwi cop]

I was wondering, do y'all import crude oil and refine or are you just importing the finished product?

Up until early 2022 we refined crude into petroleum products, but now we import it already refined.

 

[lihpster]

I just paid US$5.59/gal. for regular at the local station.

 

[glenwolde]

Up until early 2022 we refined crude into petroleum products, but now we import it already refined.

Looks like it comes by tanker from one of the Asian hubs (Singapore and/or Korea). Yeah that's gonna be pricey. But I can see how refining it on island would be more expensive as they are basically paying to import the waste. On a huge scale it can work but New Zealand is fairly small.

 

[Kiwi cop]

Looks like it comes by tanker from one of the Asian hubs (Singapore and/or Korea). Yeah that's gonna be pricey. But I can see how refining it on island would be more expensive as they are basically paying to import the waste. On a huge scale it can work but New Zealand is fairly small.

We refined our own fuel, gas, diesel and jet fuel for almost 50 years. In the mid '80's our refinery went through an expansion and it appears to have been economical. Once refining stopped and we began importing refined fuel there was an immediate price jump as we had to pay refined fuel costs that were highwer than our own costs.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Brent, you need to keep a 7800 mile siphon hose handy.

 

[jeffrefrig]

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

 

[DUSTYDOGDAN]

It is not $3.25 gallon in my part of the USA. It close to $5.00 a gallon and has not been under $4.00 .. not even close and I buy the cheap stuff. I know other parts of the world pay a lot more for a lot longer time but it was under $3.00 a few Novembers ago...

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Now paying about $3.80 for mid-grade gasoline here in southern Colorado. We drive very little now so the prices have much less effect on us than other who must commute for work or drive for business. Our Nissan Altima needs a tank about once a month. My Nissan Titan 4X4 truck with 390HP V8 gets filled up every two or three weeks.

20 years ago I was doing contract work all over southeast Colorado, northern New Mexico, western Kansas, and parts of Oklahoma, regularly driving 1000 miles or more every week. Full-size truck, 4 wheel drive, high ground clearance needed, so 15-16 MPG was the usual. In addition to the fuel there were monthly oil changes, tires every 10 or 12 months, and other maintenance costs (including a windshield every 6 months or so). Vehicle insurance is also considerably higher when business use is involved. I do not miss the expenses or the driving time! Can't imagine ever doing that again.

Nearly all of my medical needs are taken care of in the VA healthcare system. Local clinic in Pueblo with minimal facilities, larger clinic in Colorado Springs (40 miles north) with more diagnostics, and the big VA regional hospital in Aurora (Denver area, 100 miles north). All three cities are on the I-25 corridor, and all three are served by hubs of the same fuel pipelines from the Gulf Coast.

I have noticed that retail gasoline prices are regularly 20 to 30 cents per gallon higher here in Pueblo than in Colorado Springs, and Denver area prices are another 20 to 30 cents lower than Colorado Springs. Population density, demand, and delivery to retail stations seem to be significant factors.

Federal and state fuel taxes are always a factor, and will probably be how the powers that be will determine our future behaviors.

 

[Chuck24]

So why stop refining if it yields cheaper product?

 

[SweetMK]

i was trying to find local no-ethanol gas,, and happened upon the website "Gas Buddy"

It turns out that you can get gas in Norfolk VA for $2.699 per gallon,,,

That is the usual 10% ethanol,, no-ethanol around Roanoke is $4.799 per gallon.

I wonder if the "Down Under" gas is the no-ethanol type fuel??

If so, that might be 40% of the reason that the price is so much higher??

 

[s&wchad]

It seems NZ has really high taxes on gasoline. According to this article it's about $1/liter, plus they pay GST on the total amount (tax on a tax).

Petrol Tax - How Fuel Excise is Made Up | AA New Zealand

Seems they have another type of gas tax in the works. They're going after greenhouse emissions from livestock to fight "climate change". That really stinks!

 

[SweetMK]

It seems NZ has really high taxes on gasoline. According to this article it's about $1/liter, plus they pay GST on the total amount (tax on a tax).

Petrol Tax - How Fuel Excise is Made Up | AA New Zealand

Seems they have another type of gas tax in the works. They're going after greenhouse emissions from livestock to fight "climate change". That really stinks!

Did you mean that the livestock greenhouse gas really STINKS!!,,, ??

 

[charlie sherrill]

It's very simple. Every time a certain US political party gets control gas goes up for the US and all their allies.