Petrol prices could fall further over the summer period, defying predictions and offering relief for Kiwi motorists.
The welcome news follows a slump in international oil prices. The AA had predicted prices could rise as high as $3.50 but that is now looking unlikely.
AA's Terry Collins joined Breakfast this morning to share a glimpse of what New Zealanders can expect instead.
"I thought I may have been [the Christmas Grinch] in September, when I was telling people it was going up," he said. "But really what's happening is, price of crude oil's gone down about $20 a barrel, which is more than 20%.
"Our dollar's got stronger, the refining costs have gone down and shipping costs have gone down.
"All those little elements come together means that the price of fuel's been dropping and will probably continue to drop a little bit more over the holiday period."
Collins didn't want to get ahead of himself – but for now, it's looking good.
"What I'm looking at is, over our January period, our holiday period, we've still got a little bit more price easing to come," he said.
"Past that, it's very hard to predict with events that occur internationally. Anything could add to it."
According to Gaspy at 8.30am today, average NZ fuel prices sit at $2.76 for unleaded 91, $2.96 for unleaded 95 and $3.08 for unleaded 98, with diesel at $2.19. All four prices have dropped over the past month.
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