MEDIACOM-RELEASE-SHELL-NZ

WHY WON'T MR ANDERTON MEET WITH US?

Shell New Zealand has asked why the Minister of Economic Development, Jim Anderton, is refusing to meet with the company to discuss petrol pricing issues.

Shell, which led petrol prices down by one cent today, has requested to meet with the Minister to provide a detailed briefing about petrol prices.

The Minister has refused, saying that he wants to first see the results of a new Commerce Commission inquiry which relates to another industry.

Shell says the Commerce Commission conducted an inquiry into petrol pricing from July to November last year, and this "failed to indicate behaviour that would amount to a breach of the Act."

Information is also available from the Ministry of Commerce Energy Data file which is produced every six months.

This charts petrol price movements, nationally and internationally, and provides a qualified prcis of industry trends inclusive of data showing the oil companies' margins declining quarterly since 1996.

Yesterday's decision by OPEC to release 1.7 barrels of oil onto world markets, coupled with a strengthened Kiwi dollar, has enabled Shell to reduce prices.

Shell says it would be happy to explain petrol pricing in detail with Mr Anderton at any time or place to set the story straight.

Shell has entered into a briefing process with Parliamentarians on all sides of the House in an attempt to better explain petrol pricing issues.

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