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As conflict in the Middle East continues to drive volatility in fuel supply around the world, the NRMA is analysing fuel price news and data every day to give Australian motorists the latest advice on fuel supply and prices.
Here Peter Khoury answers questions from NRMA Members to give Australian motorists a handle on the situation as it develops, with tips on how to stay prepared and get the best prices at the bowser.
We just don't know, I mean that's the reality. We've seen oil prices drop quite considerably overnight but whether that's sustained or not remains to be seen.
If it is sustained, then the next prices to fall will be the wholesale prices. They're the prices the NRMA is watching really carefully, because if they fall then we will gradually start to see some relief at the bowser.
But the problem with the war in the Middle East right now is it's so volatile and unpredictable. Oil prices are jumping around based on headlines and not what's actually happening on the ground.
It is legal – you can charge whatever you want if you're a service station in Australia. If you're the oil companies, you can set whatever price you feel like.
Prices aren't regulated in Australia; we don't actually want them to be regulated because what that does is it takes away the competition. If you think about your cheap servo in your neighbourhood – and we all have one – they compete on price, but if they're forced to set a certain price, then they're less likely to compete.
We want more competition. Regulating prices might restrict that especially when things are normal, so to speak. Our message is if you're seeing service stations that are more expensive than others just don't fill up there, and be loyal to the ones who are consistently cheap, not just during a crisis but all the time.
There's no doubt we saw gouging – especially in the first week of the crisis – and especially in our three biggest cities, and the NRMA stands by that.
We know prices went up; they were already at the high point of the cycle, which meant the margin between the wholesale and the retail price was well over 50 cents a litre, and then when the crisis hit instead of those prices falling, they just went up.
They went up before the wholesale prices went up, so there's no doubt that that had an effect on national prices. It also, no doubt, led to people panic-buying because they saw these ridiculous price increases.
I don't blame them, when they saw those sorts of increases, but there's nothing illegal in terms of what they did. Certainly, what we said to the ACCC, we stand by, and that is “name and shame those oil companies”. We've had dozens of comments from people in Goulburn, Hilston, Toowoomba, Bundaberg, Harvey Bay or Woolgoolga.
We are hearing reports of both price increases in regional Australia going up, but also shortages.
The price increases are an interesting one. If you're in Toowoomba, where I'm originally from, for a sustained period and quite possibly even still today, the average price is probably cheaper than Brisbane. That's because Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney were those standout cities where the prices went up so much higher. A lot of those regional centres would have seen high prices.
We're also hearing of shortages. Those shortages are being driven by two things: one; panic buying, two; we're hearing reports of, you know, a lot of the independents in particular not being able to access fuel out of the terminals at a fair price. So, we need both of those things to stop.
Our message to our members and the community is: buy fuel when you need it, and please don't stockpile petrol at home. It's really dangerous. Also make sure to use the NRMA app to find the cheapest fuel in your area.
If a service station has put up its price excessively, you can report it to the ACCC. I will note, however, that again, they are not actually breaking the law.
What I would also say, is that service station is probably surrounded by other service stations that are not as expensive. We've done a lot of work to help you find those cheaper service stations.
What we're asking the ACCC to do is look at trends and look at these congregations of service stations that were doing the wrong thing and call them out to put down the price and so that's why we've been referring to those 50 per cent just over 50 per cent of servos in the three biggest cities that exorbitantly put their prices up at a time when they should not have gone up.
That then led to panic buying which then led to prices going up elsewhere above and beyond what we thought they would. Obviously taking into consideration the fact that we are in the middle of a Middle East crisis, and prices were always going to go up.
We're doing a lot, everything that we can. We're not a governing body, we don't write the laws, but we have been speaking regularly to the government this week about the concerns that we've seen at the bowsers, and the concerns that we're seeing in the terminals where the service stations get their fuel from. We're doing everything we can to give people information that they need to find cheap servos and fill up there.
We've been talking a long time now about electric vehicles. We've noticed that the registration of electric vehicles has gone up. We suspect that's going to happen even more for a lot of Australians who have probably had enough with the volatility of oil prices.
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So, we've been doing a lot of work to make electric vehicles accessible to Australians if they want one. We've been building EV charging networks across regional Australia so if you do buy one and you're going on a journey you can fill up, charge up. We're doing everything we can.
We are mutual – we're not part of the government, we don't write the laws, we don't hand out fines, and we'll continue to fight really hard especially this time of year and in the middle of this crisis because we know our members are hurting.
We're hurting too. Our patrol vans have got to fill up; our ferries need to fill up and so our costs are going up just like everybody else.
Yes, there are multiple reports coming out of regional Australia that supply is either running low or has reached zero.
To try and limit panic-buying, and also extend the lifespan of what fuel stock they do hold, some service stations have resorted to allowing a maximum fuel purchase amount – with many reports listing $20’s worth.
The fuel excise is collected at the bowser and then that money goes to the Federal Government. That money is meant to be used to fix our roads. That's the first point I would make.
It's important that there is a mechanism by which drivers can be taxed because we want safer roads, we want better roads but we also know that as motorists we have to contribute to that cost. That's what the excise is meant to be there for.
Absolutely and that's a separate battle and one which we constantly are fighting for. We also need to make the point that the GST applies to the excise. You're paying a tax on a tax and the GST goes to all the states as we know and so it is a constant battle trying to get more funding from both federal and state governments to fix our roads.
That's what the excise is there for. We do think as drivers we have to find some mechanism to pay to contribute to maintaining those roads because there's only a certain amount of money governments have and it's a lot of money to do that work. So that's why the excise is there. We don't think we should cut the excise. We want more of it to go into roads.
