Since Easter, the price of crude oil has risen sharply, and in recent days it has traded at up to 90 dollars per barrel.
It also affects the price of petrol.
On Friday, we noted a pump price of NOK 25.50 at our local Circle K station. This is the highest price we have observed since the corona period in 2022.
Then it was not unusual for both NOK 26 and NOK 27 per litre.
FOLLOW THE PRICE: When the price of petrol goes from 25.50 to 19.50 in a day, there is a lot to be saved by waiting a day to refuel. Photo: Rune Korsvoll
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On Saturday evening, however, the price at our local station was back to approximately NOK 19.50. Prices as low as NOK 17.50 have been reported at some stations.
Such large price variations in such a short time are rare.
Now there is a price war
Therefore, prices plummet
Communications manager at Circle K, Knut Hilmar Hansen, explains the big differences in price:
– The reason why fuel prices vary so much is local price wars which push prices down. We see the same phenomenon in many places in Norway, with different fuel prices between districts, cities and towns. The price differences can be significant and amount to several kroner per liter in several places in Norway, says Hansen to DinSide.
He says that their station drivers spend a lot of time following the local market, reporting prices to the chain centrally, which in turn adjusts the prices so that each individual station is competitive in its area.
LOCAL PRICE WAR: If you drive a lot and fill up the tank every week, you can save many thousands of kroner by following the local price war. Photo: Colourbox
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Saves many thousands
With such variations in prices, it goes without saying that there is a lot of money to be saved by being price conscious and thinking when it is the cheapest. Using the example from our local Circle K station, we will save six kroner per liter just by waiting a day. That means NOK 300 if you fill a 50 liter tank. If you do this three or four times a month, we are talking about NOK 10,000-14,000 a year saved.
It is therefore necessary to take advantage of the times that offer the lowest price. A few months ago, the Norwegian Competition Authority carried out a survey of petrol and diesel prices over a period of six months. They found that Monday or Tuesday and Friday were the days when the pump price was at its highest. Between each price peak, prices are gradually reduced. The cheapest is right before the prices are set up again.
– Must cost NOK 1,000 per litre
Avoid Fridays
– The first stations usually set the price at 10 a.m. on weekdays and a few hours earlier on weekends. Then the others followed. It may be useful to note that it may take some time before all the stations have increased the price. If you see that a petrol station has a high price for fuel, you can check whether there are stations nearby that have not had time to increase the price yet. There could be a good deal of money to save on that, said economist and senior adviser Inger Sommerfelt Ervik at the Competition Authority, when the results of the survey were presented.
Half the price is taxes
However, there can be local variations in the times when petrol and diesel are cheapest, says press manager Ingunn Handagaard in NAF:
– It can vary which days the petrol stations in an area increase their prices. There is now a greater price difference throughout the week. If you fill up the tank, you can save hundreds of pounds by filling up when the prices are lowest. If you’re going on a car holiday and drive far this summer, it pays to follow along, says Handagard.
She points out that around half of the pump price for petrol and diesel is VAT, road use tax and CO2 tax.
