Petrol prices have started to fall but not enough to satisfy the AA.

Z Energy, BP and Gull have all lowered petrol prices by 2c and diesel prices by 3c today. That took the price for 91 petrol to 218.9c a litre and the price for 95 petrol to 226.9c. BP's price for diesel is 151.9c a litre, with its premium diesel product at 152.9c. Z Energy's diesel price is $152.9c.

AA senior policy analyst Mark Stockdale said the AA's monitoring showed there had been room to drop prices by 4c, and that had been the case all week.

"The AA doesn't think a 2c drop in the price of petrol is enough, but it's a start ... Let's hope they follow through in coming days."

The 3c a litre fall in diesel prices was "more like it".

The AA had been concerned for some time that fuel company margins had been creeping up, and the companies were making more money than they used to, Stockdale said.

BP spokesperson Jonty Mills said there had been a steady decline in the price of international product prices since mid-February, but the NZ dollar exchange rate against the US dollar had also been falling.

The company had been looking closely at pump prices in recent days with a view to potentially lowering them, Mills said.

"In the past two days product prices went back up a bit, however over that whole period on average there's been a steady decline which has more than offset the impact of the exchange rate. That's allowed us to go today."

The move was not in response to comments from the AA, with was an advocate for motorists.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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