The price change was thanks to a drop in international oil prices and a reduction in gross retail margins. Petrol prices would have been lower were it not for a weaker Australian dollar.
According to the ACCC’s latest quarterly petrol monitoring report, the average retail price in the five largest cities was 142.1 cents per litre (cpl), a drop of 3.2 cpl from the June quarter.
The report found the attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities in September only temporarily affected international oil prices and, by the end of the month, they had returned to their pre-existing levels. This was primarily due to Saudi Arabia supplying oil from reserves and the potential of increased supply from the US.
Retail petrol prices in Australia remain relatively low by international standards. According to the latest OECD data, Australia had the third lowest regular unleaded and premium unleaded petrol prices among OECD members. The essential reason for the lower retail petrol prices in Australia is the relatively low rate of taxation on fuel.
Good news for Brisbane and Darwin drivers
Brisbane usually has the highest average price of the five largest cities, but in the September quarter it came second after Adelaide. The report notes that in the year up to September 2019, Brisbane retail prices were on average 2.0 cpl higher than the average across the other four largest cities, which was significantly lower than a year earlier (3.6 cpl).
The relative decrease in Brisbane prices over the past year may have been influenced by a recent large increase in the number of retail sites in Brisbane. The introduction of the fuel price transparency trial in Queensland in December 2018 may have also had some influence.
In Darwin, average petrol prices in the September quarter were 3.0 cpl below the average in the five largest cities, continuing a trend since February 2019, and since July they have been below a calculated long-term competitive cost-based price.
For most of the September quarter, daily average prices in the five largest cities fluctuated in a band between around 135.0 cpl and 145.0 cpl, though this increased to 152.8 cpl due to the Saudi attack towards the end of the quarter.
Retail prices continued to increase in early October to around 155.0 cpl before decreasing to around 145.0 cpl in mid-October, and rising again to around 156.0 cpl at the end of October. These price movements were influenced by changes in wholesale prices and the state of the petrol price cycle in some cities.
This story was originally published by ACAPMAg.com.au – extracted from Mirage news.
