Services
PBT Variable Fuel Charge
PBT Variable Fuel Charge Calculation Method
PBT Sales
9 December 2015
At the end of every month PBT obtains
diesel prices from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to
calculate the variable fuel charge (VFC).
The data set is available at the following
website.
MBIE Oil
Price Monitoring www.mbie.govt.nz
The MBIE diesel price data set is available
from their website as a csv file. PBT uses the data from the column 'Main Port Price'
New Zealand diesel retail prices, the main
port price, presented in the MBIE data set represent weekly average retail
prices from Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch.
Statistics New Zealand compile this price
series by surveying a selection of service stations in 12 regions of New
Zealand.
PBT's VFC is applied when the average Port Price over the preceding month is
greater than $1.35
Total VFC is the addition of VFC and the road user charge surcharge (RUC). As of
July 2015 the RUC surcharge is 3.29 per cent.
 There
is a one month lag between the sample data and its application. For example, to
calculate January's VFC we sample the fuel data at the end of November. This
allows one month's notice over December before the VFC
is applied. This lag means customers may observe pump prices that are different
from the rate we used. In a practical sense it means when prices are increasing
we are always one month behind the current price. Over the past 12 months the average diesel
price recorded as the 'main port price' is $1.28 The diesel price has been below PBT's VFC
starting point of $1.35 per litre since December 2014. 
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