Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the government will consider all options once BP has fronted up at parliament to explain leaked emails which appear to show them engaging in dubious pricing tactics.
The emails, revealed by Stuff, show BP managers being told to purposefully hike prices north of Wellington, in order to persuade cheaper rivals to follow suit and offset profit losses at other locations.
In response to a rival's significantly lower petrol price in Levin, rather than lower their price in Otaki by up to 20 cents per litre, BP managers instead agreed to hike prices at all their BPs in the area, expecting their rivals to follow suit.
Ms Ardern said yesterday that "certainly motorists won't look upon it as fair".
"To hear so blatantly that pricing decisions are being made that sit outside the price of crude oil, that sit outside the exchange rate, that sit outside, for instance, operating costs, will no doubt be raising eyebrows with consumers," Ms Ardern said.
When the PM was asked if she thought the pricing moves were “fair”, she said “certainly motorists won't look upon it as fair”.
"It certainly raised eyebrows with [Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods], which is why she's called [BP] in for a meeting."
Ms Ardern said the government is already considering enhancing the powers of the Commerce Commission, giving it the power to conduct market studies, and that this incident "adds greater impetus over why we want to undertake that work".
"That's why we want the Commerce Commission to be in a position to undertake this kind of work, because that would also compel those in the industry to provide the evidence that is required to really get a sense of what is happening between these companies, but across the country as well.
"We do need to have a comprehensive look, because... [BP] may not be in breach of our existing legislative framework, but Kiwis will rightly be saying, 'this doesn't feel fair'".
BP has responded, saying "Petrol prices in New Zealand are highly competitive and we adjust our prices in response to local competition, particularly in instances where discounting has become unsustainable, which is what occurred in the lower North Island last year.
"We believe competition on price will remain a key characteristic of the New Zealand fuel market in the coming years.
"Because the New Zealand fuel market is already highly competitive we actively manage our prices on a daily basis to remain competitive, as well as provide the best possible customer service offering."
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