Motorists could be about to see further relief at the pump if the fragile US-Iran ceasefire deal continues to hold, the AA says.
Earlier this month, the US and Iran agreed to an interim deal to end the hostilities which prompted the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil had been shipped before the war began.
Following the deal, the cost of oil on international markets has fallen significantly and prices at the pump in New Zealand have followed suit, with 91 petrol now averaging around the $3 mark.
AA Principal Policy Adviser Terry Collins told Breakfast today that "we're seeing a bit of sunshine on the horizon" following the deal.
"Back in May, it was around about US$114 a barrel, it's dropped to US$72 for the price of oil in August. So, what we're seeing is only the prices now, which are in the middle of that downward curve - we've got more to come."
Collins said there was still a lot of uncertainty with the shaky US-Iran ceasefire, but he expected fuel prices on special days to drop as low as $2.50 per litre in the coming months.
"Some refineries have been damaged. We still haven't got all the ships out of the Strait of Hormuz yet. There's still uncertainty about how many want to go back in.
"So I look at the positive, but I'm also very wary that anything could go wrong at any time. Yeah, there's still that fragility there," he said.
"I was saying a week ago, $2.80 , and I thought I was confident around about the US$80 mark.
"It could be on a special day, you could be very close to $2.50 as opposed to $3 but somewhere in between there."
He said, however, that there were "big variations" across different parts of the country.
"There's always been variations between regions and within regions, and we're seeing sometimes price variations between 40c and 50c cents a litre on a 50L tank," he said.
He said it was important to go out on days when the fuel companies offer specials and "hunting them down" would force more fuel companies to lower prices.
"If we all actively seek out the cheap prices, we have real downward pressure on the oil companies to continue to drop those prices," Collins said.
He said Tuesdays and Thursdays were often the best days to snag a discount on fuel.
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