SEQ petrol prices pumped up
The state’s peak motoring body says problems at Caltex’s Brisbane refinery and motorists’ general relief at prices coming off record highs in 2008 are allowing the industry to get away with the hike.
“With wholesale prices for unleaded petrol (ULP) currently under 90 cents a litre taking the state fuel subsidy into account, we’d normally expect it to be retailing only a few cents a litre above that mark this morning,” said RACQ’s general manager for external relations, Gary Fites.
“But what we’re seeing throughout Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast are prices commonly still in the mid to high-90s.
“Effectively, we’ve seen the elimination of the usual price cycle as retailers hang on to healthy margins throughout the week and oil companies see little need to offer price support to their franchised outlets.”
Mr Fites said it was disappointing to note an uncharacteristic reluctance among the independent outlets to push pump prices lower.
“The industry generally appears prepared to trade off the Caltex situation and the perception that motorists are happy enough to be buying their petrol for under or around the ‘psychological’ dollar-a-litre mark,” he said.
Of particular concern to the RACQ was the increased differential between regular and premium unleaded petrol (PULP) at many retail sites.
“At many outlets premium unleaded is now costing 10 cents a litre more than regular – up two cents,” Mr Fites said.
“While we know PULP supplies have been squeezed since Caltex is the major supplier of this fuel in south-east Queensland, we shall be watching closely to see if the price differential reduces once the Caltex refinery is back to full production, which is expected within the week.
“After that we can see no reason at all why there shouldn’t be a return to normal pricing patterns.”
