CHEAPER PETROL.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 852, 28 August 1933, Page 7

CHEAPER PETROL.

AII Brands Down a Penny a Gallon. ACTION' BY OIL COMPANIES. All brands of petrol were reduced in price by a penny a gallon in Christchurch this morning. First grade petrol is now being sold at Is 8d a gallon and second grade at Is 7d, the wholesale prices being Is 7hd and Is 6id a gallon respectively, less a penny a gallon discount for cash. Rumours of impending reductions in the charges were current on Saturday and yesterday in Christchurch, and this morning managers of oil companies announced that the prices were down bv a penny a gallon. The majority of the service stations reduced their prices by a corresponding amount this morning. Fluctuations in Price. The past six months have witnessed considerable fluctuations in the price of petrol, for when the Government imposed the additional 3d per gallon tax on spirit the charges at resellers’ stations rose to as high at '2s 4d for firstgrade and 2s 3d for second grade. With a figure of Is 8d for first grade there has been a drop of Sd per gallon since the beginning of what might be called a mild “petrol war.” A comparison with the price of kerosene was made by the manager of an oil company when he was emphasising that a reduction in the price of petrol would benefit the whole farming community. He pointed out that the farmer, as a user of petrol, received a rebate of 6d per gallon if the spirit was used on the farm and not on the road. If the wholesale price of second-grade petrol was Is sid the rebate would bring the cost to the farmer down to llid, whereas the price of kerosene to-day was one shilling.