More than half the petrol stations in Sydney and Melbourne have already hiked their prices for regular unleaded by 5ยข to 10ยข per litre, new analysis shows, even as the Albanese government warns the industry that price gouging will not be tolerated.
Although the conflict in Iran has pushed up the cost of crude oil and will affect retail fuel prices, experts and officials say it takes at least seven days for any price hikes to flow through to Australian bowsers.
But 50.3 per cent of Melbourneโs service stations have already increased regular unleaded prices to at least $2.19 a litre, and 50 per cent of Sydneyโs service stations are selling above $2.17 a litre, new data compiled by the National Roads and Motorists Association reveals.
Selling regular unleaded at those prices was unjustified, the motoring group said, and amounted to โprice gougingโ because they were an average of more than 5ยข higher than what they should ordinarily be, even at the top of end of Melbourne and Sydneyโs price cycles.
โWhat is clear is that a whole bunch of service stations in our biggest cities have manipulated the price cycle and are using Iran as an excuse to push up their profit margins,โ NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said.
โMost of the petrol that the service stations are selling at exorbitant prices was not bought in the last 24 hours to justify passing on that increase in wholesale prices.โ
Treasurer Jim Chalmers wrote on Tuesday to the national consumer watchdog instructing it to monitor petrol price gouging by petrol stations. โUnfolding events should not be used as an excuse for retailers to gouge customers or to increase prices opportunistically above and beyond the impacts of events in the Middle East,โ Chalmers said.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen on Tuesday called a snap press conference to urge motorists not to panic buy petrol and said there was no risk of supply running short. Motorists are queuing up at petrol stations across the country amid fears of price hikes and short supplies.
โThereโs no, no case for panic buying. I urge people only to buy petrol when they need itโฆ There is no need to rush to the service station and fill up,โ Bowen said.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it would be watching fuel retailersโ price movements closely.
โChanges in international and wholesale petrol prices influence retail petrol prices, but the changes can take time to flow through,โ an ACCC spokesman said. โGenerally, only when fuel is replenished at a retail site that wholesale price changes are reflected in retail prices.โ
Australian fuel prices go through cycles of varying durations, during which retailers progressively discount their fuel by a few cents each day to compete for market share until prices bottom out, then spike again by as much as 25ยข to 40ยข a litre in one day.
However, Khoury said average fuel prices across more than half of the service stations in Australiaโs two biggest cities were โway over where they should beโ at this stage, given it was too early for so many retailers to have felt the impact of a 5.5ยข rise in terminal-gate prices since the conflict in Iran over the weekend.
With at least 12 per cent of Sydneyโs service stations selling regular unleaded below $1.89 a litre, Khoury said not all service stations were doing the wrong thing , but โsadly, too many areโ.
โThere are still service stations in your cities that are not ripping you off โ go to those service stations,โ he said.
The Australian Institute of Petroleum and the Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association have been contacted for comment.
The widening war in Iran has intensified concerns over global supplies of crude oil โ the natural resource refined into petrol, diesel and jet fuel โ and is expected to ultimately push up transport costs for consumers worldwide, even if the conflict is short-lived. The cost of a barrel of oil has so far climbed more than 8 per cent to around $US78.
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Nick Toscano is a business reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
Mike Foley is the climate and energy correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
