Petrol prices still too high despite dramatic drop in cost: RACT

Tasmania’s peak motoring body says the cost of fuel continues to be far too high, despite a dramatic drop in prices.

TASMANIAN fuel prices have seen a dramatic drop but the cost of petrol continues to be far too high when compared to other parts of Australia, the state’s peak motoring body says.

Hobart’s average unleaded petrol price was 132.2 cents per litre yesterday according to user-reported fuel price website Petrolspy.

The cheapest place to fill up in Southern Tasmania was Bridgewater’s Shell petrol station charging 98.9c/l.

The website showed Kingston’s Woolworths Caltex had the most expensive unleaded petrol at 143.9c/l.

According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average price of unleaded petrol fell by 2.2 cents to a 12-month low of 129.4 cents a litre last month — a price RACT chief executive Mark Mugnaioni said was still too high.

Mark Mugnaioni. Picture: SUPPLIED

“The current wholesale price is 90c/l,” he said.

“We believe the retail price should be around the 120c/l mark, reducing to 110c/l in the next 10 days.

“Tasmanian retail fuel prices continue to be far too high when compared to other parts of Australia.

“Tasmania is not seeing effective retail competition in the petrol market — an issue which is compounded by the fact that we are already experiencing difficult economic conditions.

It comes after Independent Clark MP Andrew Wilkie last week said the discrepancy between Tasmania and mainland fuel prices “must be remedied.”

“The situation in Tasmania is especially problematic where the consistently more expensive fuel cannot be explained by higher freight cost,’’ Mr Wilkie said.

On a visit to Hobart last month, the head of Australia’s consumer watchdog said he thought petrol prices in Tasmania should drop by 25 cents a litre.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims said the lag time between an international oil price drop and the flow-on impact at the bowser was usually two to three weeks.

A Treasury spokesman has said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg had spoken to Mr Sims about the importance of holding petrol retailers to account and ensuring all Australians received the benefits of lower oil prices.