03/05/2012

Brisbane motorists who thought they were paying more at the fuel pump last month were right, with average prices hitting their highest level in almost four years.

Motorists were also hit with massive single day hikes in price, with high retail margins and long price cycles causing jumps of up to 15 cents per litre (cpl) on the “flip” days when the price switched from the low to high end of the price cycle.

“April was a bad month for Brisbane motorists who were forced to pay too much for fuel and caught out by longer price cycles, with only two so-called cheap days in the entire month,” RACQ Executive Manager Public Policy Michael Roth said today.

The average price of unleaded petrol (ULP) in Brisbane for April was 153.2cpl.

“This is the highest monthly average since the onset of the Global Financial Crisis four years ago, and only 0.2cpl lower than the record highest monthly average of 153.4cpl in July 2008,” Mr Roth said.

“The maximum daily average ULP price was 159.5cpl on 14 April. This is the highest price we’ve seen in Brisbane since the onset of the GFC when the highest recorded daily average of 162.1cpl occurred on 11 July 2008.”

The RACQ Monthly Fuel Price Report for April, released today, emphasises that prices should have been lower, particularly near the end of the month.

“The fall in the Tapis crude oil price has not been reflected in the wholesale and retail prices, all of which increased in early April and were slow to trend downwards later in the month,” Mr Roth said.

RACQ’s latest monthly fuel report can be viewed at www.racq.com/fuel.