On Tuesday, the treasurer announced the fuel excise would be halved for the next six months, slashing fuel costs by 22.1 cents a litre.

He said that a family with two cars that fill up once a week will save $30 a week, or around $700 over the next six months.

But some local service stations have been quicker at passing on the savings than others.

Ten of the 19 local service stations are now selling petrol for under $2 per litre, with your cheapest fuel in town going for 177.9c at Swift Independent on Fitzmaurice Street, and the dearest ringing in at 205.9 at TASCO on Hammond Avenue.

Five cheapest places to get fuel:

Owner of Swift Service Centre Paul Seaman put his prices down the afternoon after the budget.

He said he was able to drop his prices so low because he held out on buying his next shipment of fuel until after the budget announcement, but also to make room for his next shipment.

"I dropped it and stayed open longer to make room to fit enough diesel," he said.

"Definitely a distinct advantage for me because I'm selling it 20 cents a litre cheaper than everyone else in town. I'm making the same margin, I just took 22 cents off the price it was yesterday.

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"Now they're lining up to get fuel and I'm making the same margins I was yesterday."

Mr Seaman said the other service stations in town will only be able to drop their prices once they get rid of their current stocks purchased at higher prices.

But the longer they keep their prices high, the harder it will be to get rid of the fuel, he said.

He has never seen such "volatility" in the fuel market, so any help from the government is welcome.

"This is unprecedented, the government has never touched the excise before, not that I know of ... I've never seen anything like this," he said.

"It's good to see some sort of relief at the bowser for people, some people are doing it tough," he said.

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