Delay in petrol rise

Press, 12 July 1979, Page 3

Delay in petrol rise

PA Wellington It would be “some considerable time,” before the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries oil price increases were felt in retail petrol prices, said the Minister of Energy (Mr Birch) yesterday. He was commenting on a report that BP New Zealand, Ltd, was preparing a pricerise application to offset O.P.E.C.’s new prices, announced last week, and the devaluation of the New Zealand dollar. The latest O.P.E.C. increase brings the cost of imported crude oil to $2O a barrel, an increase of about $4 a barrel. The last petrol price rise in New Zealand was on May 17. Oil company spokesmen said yesterday they expected the next increase to take effect in about two months. But it must first be approved by the Ministry of Energy. Replying to questions in Parliament yesterday, Mr Birch said that New Zealand was working, through the International Energy Agency and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, to restore the oil supply and demand balance, rather than trying to counter O.P.E.C. price strategy. He said threats made by Libya to cut United States oil imports and to abandon oil exports would have “a serious impact on an oil market which is tight, unstable, and trigger-happy with regard to price.”