‘High point’: Long weekend petrol prices spike as unstable bowsers squeeze motorists
Another long weekend, another spike in petrol prices for frustrated motorists. Photo: Gettty
Petrol prices are peaking for millions of motorists who headed on long weekend road trips, with bowsers across Sydney and Brisbane now holding close to $2 a litre for more than four days.
Service stations are now charging an average of $1.91 a litre on average in Brisbane and $1.85 in Sydney, according to data from fuel comparison site Motormouth.
But in Melbourne, which doesn’t have a public holiday, petrol prices are actually falling, hitting an average $1.65 a litre on Monday – down more than 16 per cent since midway through last month.
It means now is a good time to fill up if you’re driving in Victoria heading back to New South Wales, but if you’re further north on the east coast try to avoid filling up until later this week.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said as much on Monday, advising motorists in Sydney to use fuel price comparison applications to find the best deals.
“The price cycle is around a high point,” the regulator said.
In Brisbane, where prices are slightly higher on average than Sydney, the ACCC said petrol should get cheaper in the coming days.
It was only several weeks ago that motorists in Sydney and Brisbane were enjoying much cheaper petrol prices, with bowsers bottoming out at around $1.60 a litre on average.
Anyone who was unable to fill up during that window is now paying upwards of 16 per cent more after prices soared back up to their high points much faster than they fell to affordable lows.
Unstable petrol prices squeeze motorists
The instability of Austraila’s east coast petrol prices has sparked criticism from the National Road Motorists Association (NRMA), who say market cycles are squeezing most motorists.
The NRMA’s analysis finds the gap between the top and bottom of Sydney’s petrol price cycles this year has been a whopping 30 cents per litre.
That means motorists who fill up at the lowest point in the cycle can save up to $780 a year for a car with a standard 50 litre fuel tank.
NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said such wild fluctuations in prices are unique to Australia and have been a fact of life for motorists on the east coast for “almost two decades”.
“We are now seeing similar trends in larger regional towns located near the capitals,” he said.
“NRMA research exposed the reality of these cycles: they are lasting longer, prices rise up-to three times faster than they fall – and with this latest research we know that the majority of service stations in Sydney are charging the maximum price longer at the top of the cycle.”
“There are no more outliers,” Khoury added.
Not every Australian city is plagued by petrol price cycles. In Perth, for example, petrol prices are regulated which means motorists can actively predict when prices will be lowest every week.
Petrol prices in Perth are currently about $1.64 a litre, down from a regular high of $1.90 a litre last Wednesday. Prices will bottom out on Tuesday at around $1.55 a litre under its program.
Queensland is looking to adopt such a model itself after the next state election, with Premier Steven Miles promising to crack down on service station price gouging if he’s re-elected.