Pump prices should be even lower
Research by the state’s peak motoring organisation indicates that oil companies are making up elsewhere in the supply chain for lower refinery prices for both petrol and diesel.
“The last time the refinery price for petrol matched current levels, in February 2005, the average pump price in Brisbane that month was 92.2 cents a litre,” said RACQ’s general manager for external relations, Gary Fites.
“While motorists are naturally relieved to se petrol back around $1 a litre in south-east Queensland, it’s pretty obvious the price could be even lower.
“Based on our monitoring, it appears the oil companies are being less generous with their price support to their retailers at the trough of the region’s weekly cycle than they have been in the past.
“And in regional Queensland, once again we see pump prices moving all too slowly in response to the international downward trend.”
Mr Fites said the situation was even worse for diesel users.
“Unfortunately for them, there’s little or no discounting of diesel at service stations and once again its fuel consumption advantages are often being outweighed by a price difference with petrol of up to 40 percent.
“As with petrol, we find that retail diesel prices are now 10 cents a litre or more higher in monitored cities and towns than they were when refinery prices for diesel were last at current levels – in November last year.”
Mr Fites said the RACQ would raise the price discrepancies with the Federal Petrol Commissioner, Mr Joe Dimasi, when he visited Brisbane at the club’s invitation next week.
