NRMA Motoring & Services President Wendy Machin today urged motorists to fill up their tanks before an expected spike in prices on Christmas Day.
The average price of unleaded petrol in Sydney today is 98.9 cents per litre. Unleaded can be found as cheap as 92.9 cents per litre.
Ms Machin said it would be nice for petrol companies to give something back on Christmas Day and not raise their prices by the expected five to seven cents per litre. Thursday is traditionally the most expensive day of the weekly petrol price cycle.
“Many service stations are expected to be closed on Christmas Day which may see additional profiteering due to a lack of competition,” Ms Machin said.
“Consumers still want to know why there is in fact a price cycle to start with and why there is disparity of up to 20 cents per litre between city and country prices.
“This week’s Australian Competition & Consumer Commission petrol report delivered absolutely nothing to answer these questions. The NRMA believes the ACCC should be doing a lot more than just monitoring petrol prices,” Ms Machin said.
“Greater regulatory powers would go a long way towards reducing price disparity and encourage ways to increase competition such as limiting impediments to large-scale importing by independents. As long as oil remains under $40 per barrel and the Australian dollar remains steady, there is no excuse at all for petrol to be more than $1 per litre any day of the week while regional NSW motorists should not be paying more than $1.05.”