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New Zealand fuel retailers set the prices displayed at their stations; neither the Commerce Commission nor MBIE sets or caps pump prices. What you pay reflects the cost of buying and landing refined fuel, taxes and levies, domestic transport and retailing costs, and local competition and discounts. Those parts change at different speeds, which is why a pump price does not necessarily move in step with a headline about crude oil.
Who sets the price at the pump?
Each retailer decides what to charge customers. The Commerce Commission says that, like most New Zealand businesses, fuel retailers set the prices they sell their products for. The Commission monitors the sector and enforces competition and consumer-protection rules; it does not regulate or set pump prices. Commerce Commission guidance on petrol pricing
That means there is no single nationwide price. Prices can differ between retailers and locations, and a station’s advertised board price may not be what a particular customer pays after a loyalty offer, voucher or other discount.
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A pump price is not simply the price of crude oil. Retailers buy refined fuel, and the cost of getting it to New Zealand includes overseas purchase and shipping, terminal costs and foreign-exchange effects. Taxes and levies, domestic distribution and retail costs, and margins make up the rest.
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The Commerce Commission’s March 2026 explainer gives a useful historical example: the 2025 national average price for Regular 91 at importer-owned sites, after discounts, was 252.93 cents per litre. Its reported breakdown is below. This is an annual average for that grade and site group, not a current quote or a price for any particular station. Commerce Commission fuel-pricing explainer
| 2025 Regular 91 component | Amount per litre | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| Importer costs | 99.37 cents | 39% |
| Taxes and other levies | 123.02 cents | 49% |
| Retail overheads and margin | Approximately 30.54 cents | 12% |
| Total | 252.93 cents | 100% |
The Commission’s shares are rounded. The importer-cost portion is the most volatile in its breakdown; taxes are generally more predictable, while domestic costs and margins and local discounts also influence the price customers see.
Why do fuel prices change?
Overseas refined-fuel costs, shipping and currency
New Zealand imports refined fuel, so overseas prices and the cost of shipping and landing fuel affect what importers pay. Crude oil matters, but pump prices are not mechanically tied to a daily crude benchmark: the relevant input is refined fuel, alongside shipping, terminal and currency costs. Retail prices may adjust at a different pace from those inputs.
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Taxes and levies
Fuel prices include government charges such as excise, GST, ACC charges, monitoring levies, transport-related levies and ETS-related costs; regional charges can also apply. The mix differs by fuel and region. MBIE’s duties table, correct as of 13 July 2026, lists per-litre charges exclusive of GST and states that diesel is not subject to the National Land Transport Fund tax. Check the table for the applicable rates rather than treating a single tax figure as universal. MBIE duties, taxes and direct levies on motor fuels
Domestic distribution, retail costs and margins
Fuel must be transported, stored and distributed before it can be sold. MBIE calculates an importer margin by subtracting taxes and levies and importer costs from an adjusted retail price. That gross residual is available to cover local transportation, distribution and retailing costs as well as profit; it is not a measure of net profit. The series is not adjusted for inflation. MBIE’s weekly fuel monitoring methodology
Competition, location and discounts
Competition varies between local markets, so prices can differ by station even when broader costs are similar. A board price is an advertised price; loyalty programmes, vouchers and regional variation can affect what a customer pays. MBIE’s adjusted price is designed to account for these effects in its monitoring. MBIE’s price-data methodology
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Why might the pump price not fall as soon as oil gets cheaper?
Because crude oil is only one influence, and the price retailers face for refined fuel, shipping, currency and other landing costs may not fall at the same time or by the same amount. Retail pricing can also adjust at a different pace, while taxes, domestic distribution costs, local competition and discounting affect the final price. There is no universal number of days in which a cost change must pass through to every station.
For example, the Commerce Commission’s reporting on the 2026 Middle East conflict described refined-fuel costs rising while pump prices adjusted more slowly at first, squeezing margins before they later recovered. That experience shows why a crude-oil headline alone cannot explain a particular pump-price change. Commerce Commission advisory on its report to 18 March 2026
How to read New Zealand’s official fuel-price figures
MBIE’s weekly national monitoring
MBIE publishes weekly national averages and importer-margin monitoring for regular petrol, premium petrol and diesel using the previous week’s data. Its stated aim is to show how factors such as international oil prices affect pump prices. The margin calculation is:
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Adjusted retail price − taxes and levies − importer cost = importer margin
Since 7 May 2025, MBIE has used fuel-price data from Datamine, the official data agent for the Gaspy fuel-price monitoring app. The data covers more than 1,500 stations and is combined with Stats NZ regional population estimates to produce national averages. MBIE distinguishes an advertised board price from an adjusted price that accounts for loyalty programmes, vouchers and regional variation; it uses the adjusted price in GST and importer-margin calculations. MBIE weekly fuel price monitoring
The Commerce Commission’s quarterly monitoring
The Commission separately publishes quarterly monitoring based on information from fuel companies, including retail and wholesale prices and volumes, estimated regional cost and price information, terminal-gate pricing and wholesale activity. These reports complement MBIE’s weekly series; they do not mean the Commission sets retail prices. Commerce Commission monitoring and focus reports
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Make like-for-like comparisons
Before comparing prices or trends, check that the figures refer to the same fuel grade, geography, dates and price basis. A station’s board price is not directly comparable with an adjusted price, and a national average is not a station-specific quote. For a movement over time, separate changes in importer costs from taxes and domestic margins. MBIE’s weekly series and the Commission’s quarterly reports each provide context, but their measures and time windows are not interchangeable.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What changed in MBIE’s 2026 monitoring?
Volatility during the Middle East conflict led MBIE to pause its importer-cost and importer-margin series on 18 March 2026, resume publication on 1 July, and revise its methodology on 23 September 2026. The Commission and fuel importers identified risk premiums being applied by traders to physical fuel purchases in anticipation of benchmark increases. The revision raised average importer costs over the affected period, 27 February–23 September 2026, by 10 cents per litre for diesel and 3 cents per litre for petrol; calculated margins fell correspondingly. These are changes to monitored average costs over that specified period, not changes to every station’s price. When using a cost or margin trend from that period, identify it as the revised series. MBIE explanation of the 2026 conflict’s impact on monitoring
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