‘Exorbitant prices’: Brisbane slugged highest for petrol in country

Brisbane motorists are paying the most for petrol with new figures revealing prices at the pump soared to 9c higher in the river city. SEE THE FULL LIST.

Brisbane motorists are paying the most for petrol with new figures revealing prices at the pump soared to 9 cents more per litre than Perth.

RACQ’s annual fuel monitoring report showed the average retail price across Brisbane was 193.1 cpl for 2023, compared to the previous record of 184.9 in 2022.

Regular unleaded petrol was the most expensive in Brisbane, followed by Hobart at 191.4 cpl. While Perth was the cheapest capital at 183.8cpl.

The price discrepancy equates to $130 more on average per year than in Perth based on average fuel consumption in Queensland.

The average price for Diesel was 203.6cpl which was the most expensive of the five largest capital cities in Australia.

RACQ’s Principal Economic and Affordability Specialist Dr Ian Jeffreys said Brisbane motorists had endured two consecutive years of record-breaking petrol prices, largely due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and OPEC production cuts.

Coverage of petrol prices around Brisbane. Ampol service station at Nudgee. Picture: David Clark

Australia’s consumer watchdog – the ACCC – has previously pinned the blame for Brisbane’s exorbitant prices on higher retail profit margins and having fewer independent retailers resulting in less competition than other cities.

Dr Jeffreys said Sydney and Melbourne see a similar trend but those factors are worse in Brisbane.

Compare the Market’s Chris Ford said there was “volatility” in the market.

“I think what we have seen in the last 18 to 24 months is huge volatility in sort of our oil benchmarks,” he said.

“If we look back over the last two years, there was a quite a few moments in time that hopefully we don’t see again.

“I mean, if we’ve been tracked back towards 2020, we saw a huge drop in oil prices and petrol prices changed quite considerably, so it shows the volatility there.

“While there’s been record back to back years, it doesn’t mean that the future is written in the same regard.

Brisbane paid the highest prices in the country. Picture: David Clark

Mr Ford said petrol prices would be north of $2 most likely in the short to medium term.

While Dr Jeffreys said there was also a new record in 2023.

“We also saw a new record retail price for unleaded in SEQ, with many servos hiking to 237.9cpl in October 2023, when the daily average price in the Brisbane market also hit a record of 232.4cpl,” Dr Jeffreys said

Kuraby had the cheapest petrol in 2023 at 180.1 cents per litre with Bald Hills not far behind followed by Moorooka. The most expensive suburb in 2023 was Milton with the average price of 204.4 followed by Lytton at 201.8, Toowong at 201.3 and Salsibury at 201.

“One of the cheapest suburbs was Moorooka, yet neighbouring Salisbury was one of the most expensive which is why it’s so important to shop around by using fuel price monitoring apps like RACQ’s Fair Fuel Finder,” Dr Jeffreys said.

“Drivers who filled up in Moorooka instead of Salisbury could have saved $225 over the year simply by driving to the next suburb, so it really does pay to do your research.”