Petrol prices soar in the south east

Club spokesperson Lauren Ritchie said as south east Queensland entered the expensive phase of the cycle, more than 430 sites across Brisbane and Gold Coast had jacked up the price of unleaded petrol (ULP) to more than 150 cents per litre (cpl).

“More than 65 percent of servos in Brisbane and 82 percent on the Gold Coast have hit 150cpl or higher - which is a far cry from the cheap monthly average of 98cpl we saw in the middle of last year at the height of coronavirus restrictions,” Ms Ritchie said.

“Fuel companies are clawing back lost profits and ripping off drivers with exceptionally high retail margins of around 40cpl.

“With current low oil and wholesale prices there is really no excuse for margins to be this high.”

Ms Ritchie said cheap fuel sites were disappearing quickly and urged drivers to do their homework.

“There are very few servos in Brisbane still selling unleaded for under 116cpl, and we know it won’t last long,” she said.

“Use the apps and websites available, like RACQ’s Fair Fuel Finder, to narrow down the best deal in your area. We fought long and hard for access to real-time data to help avoid getting ripped off during the hike, so it’s important we use it to save.”

The average price of unleaded was 131.4cpl in Brisbane, 146.9cpl on the Gold Coast, 119.5cpl in Ipswich and 115.9cpl on the Sunshine Coast.