Victorian motorists get relief at the bowser as petrol prices fall
Petrol costs have been falling for the past two weeks in Victoria, with unleaded hitting its lowest price in 16 years, but motorists should still hold off filling up. Here’s why.
VIC News
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Petrol prices have been falling steadily for weeks - but Victorian motorists could save even more in the coming days.
The daily average regular unleaded petrol price in Melbourne over the past 45 days has fallen from just under $1.30 a litre to about $1.06 a litre.
It comes as the wholesale price for unleaded fell on Wednesday to the lowest level in 16 years.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission monitors the movement in retail price from a low point to a peak.
Their analysis showed Melbourne still had some time before the low point was reached, which suggested motorists should delay buying petrol if they could as further price drops were possible.
RACV senior engineer Nicholas Platt confirmed the downward trend in prices.
“The average at the moment is 106.4cpl although some retailers are selling for as little as 97cpl,” he said.
Melbourne prices were unusual stationary about two weeks ago — a trend more common in small country towns. But there had been relief at the bowsers since then as service stations jostled for customers.
“This week we have seen a return to a discounting phase with individual service stations lowering the prices to compete with each other and take advantage of the low wholesale prices,” Mr Platt said.
“Currently the wholesale price for unleaded is continuing to fall with prices as low as 82.3cpl on Wednesday, the lowest price we’ve seen in over 16 years. There are currently no indicators that retail prices will spike with most retailers engaged in discounting daily.”
The RACV advised filling up now, but urged motorists not to drive around town in search of cheap fuel.
They should instead use a fuel price finder, such as RACV’s online comparison tool, to look for the cheapest fuel locally.
An ACCC spokeswoman said world oil prices had fallen dramatically in recent weeks.
“As a country that mostly has to import oil, this is good news for the Australian economy,” she said. “At this time the Australian economy needs all the assistance it can get.”
The ACCC was prepared to shame fuel providers who weren’t passing on savings.
“We are looking at the market very closely, to determine if further sustained reductions in international prices are being passed onto consumers, and we will be publicly identifying major fuel traders that are not passing on reductions.”
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