Riverton pumps New Zealand's cheapest petrol

People who have been filling their cars at Caltex-owned fuel pumps in Riverton appear to have been paying the lowest prices in New Zealand.

The multinational's self-service pumps outside the Riverton Automotive Centre have been delivering fuel that is up to 15c cheaper than in the main centres.

Yesterday, it cost 162.9c for a litre of unleaded petrol from Caltex's Riverton pumps. It cost 177.9c in Invercargill.

The prices have been out of step with pumps in other centres since the forecourt's new self-service machine was installed in October.

Riverton Automotive Centre owners Paki and Jo Cleaver said they owned the garage but leased the forecourt to Caltex. Caltex operated the pumps and people paid at the self-service machine.

Caltex was responsible for the prices and the price displays.

Mr Cleaver said they contacted Caltex many times to tell it about the prices – even though they are not his pumps and he cannot change the prices – but Caltex had not stepped in to change them.

The out-of-date fuel prices were quite well known to people in Riverton and much further afield, Mr Cleaver said. "We have tourists arriving here to fill up, saying this is the cheapest fuel in New Zealand. People drive out here from Invercargill to fill up."

Chevron New Zealand markets the Caltex brand.

Media spokeswoman Sharon Buckland was yesterday unable to explain why the fuel had remained so cheap for so long.

"We are at a loss to know why this has happened ... It's fully automated and should respond to price changes automatically."

An investigation would be launched into why the automated system didn't work and why Mr Cleaver's attempts to advise the Caltex call centre about the situation had failed.

Ms Buckland confirmed the Caltex call centre was in the Philippines capital Manila.

- © Fairfax NZ News