Costco Petrol just opened today in Canberra, should bring some relief to petrol prices in Canberra since we pay around 20 cents a litre more than Sydney and Melbourne. In fact the prices are on par with some WA regional areas.
The Woolies price does require an EDR card with a 4c voucher, otherwise it is $1.33lt for unleaded.
EDIT: They just lowered to 130.7 a litre now for regular unleaded.
Yeah it's members only and if you are a current member, you need to head into the store to get your card updated.
Do you really want them in Melbourne if they're going to charge that price. $1.21 everywhere down in the SE suburbs!
I think that the point is that petrol prices are usually 20c+ more expensive in ACT for some reason, and Costco Petrol is bringing more competition to that market which overall drives prices down.
You've completely missed the (regional differences-based) point snoopy. Read the info' above carefully…
And you've jumped the gun, because there's dozens of comments pertaining to just that issue further down! ;)
Edit: But by the sounds of things, this may bring some obviously much needed competition to Canberra. Unless it's just another opening gimmick!
The lowest price we saw in Adelaide was 118.2 NE Rd across from multistory police station. others went from 120.x up.
Average $122.9 for ULP around Melbs today.
You guys really take it up the tailpipe.
yep petrol is usually about $1.47 - $1.50. It doesn't fluctuate like most places though. It's been $1.47 for weeks.
But the price of crude oil has dropped significantly over the last month!
That doesn't seem to matter here.
Apparently so!
spot price is different to contract prices
petrol is actually pretty cheap…. people seem to forget about the massive fuel excise (this is what makes fuel so expensive in aus)
Yes 38.1c per L + GST (10%)
Gate price currently is around the 1.08-1.10 currently, so 1.15 means they are just covering the cost (by the time you factor in transportation and if their contract rate is gate price rate)
it's been $1.47 for months. I buy 98RON (Euro car) and it's been $1.67 for months. Went up to Sydney for 10 days and it was $1.45 -$1.50 for 98 everywhere I went. Back to Canberra and got hit with the same rip off price of $1.67.
I do not believe it costs 20c /litre to transport fuel to Canberra. There seriously needs to be an investigation.
I buy 98RON (Euro car) and it's been $1.67 for months.
This is easily the best news. I need minimum 95RON and the Costco price is waaay cheaper and higher octane than what I'm presently using. Easily makes the 10min drive worth it for me.
Check some BP stores. I find the difference in price for woolies/coles is 17c (91 vs 98). In BP it can be 14c in some stations. So WITH a discount (4c/L), it means BP is 1c/L more. Not much of a difference and means I don't have to dig/fight for those silly vouchers anymore! Plus some belive BP ultimate is better? Who knows…
$1.24 give or take a cent or two in the Nerang area today.
Aye, at my local (in VIC) today it was $1.23/L with no voucher, $1.19/L with the 4c-off voucher, and $1.09/L with a $20 in-store purchase (of toilet paper which is strategically priced the same as Coles).
Surely the recent global big drop in barrel-price will have to "trickle down" to "THE CLASS A.C.T." eventually? Or is there no interest in 'fixing' the obvious price-fixing (;-P), cause too many of the "power-peeps-that-be" there in "the 'berra" dinnae' actually pay-a-bean for their petrol at all (if you know what I mean)?
About the only advantage is diesel, it is more expensive than the major cities, but not to the same extent.
In Melbourne there is a huge difference in price, whereas it is often cheaper than ULP up here.
I dreamt of $1.16 last night. My dreams are usually true !
1.23 in Adelaide at OTR.
117.7 At Costco! Or 118.7 at the Coles Express next to it, grab a voucher and its 114.7!
1.24 at 7 eleven on victoria road, sydney
Finally!!! I work in Canberra during weekdays and fly to back Melbourne on weekends. The prices in Canberra are a complete rip off compared to the rest of the nation.
Too many gov cars. We are all paying for it.
Long term government tactic to imply/affect that unemployment isn't so high.
i.e. WAY to many employed by govt, with MANY of them utilising gov't cars.
Gave you a vote for your comment ;o)
also: $1.14/ltr at 'Supasave' Hume Hwy Casula today. (E-10 mix)).
You haven't got a clue fella. The vast majority of public servants don't have access to govt cars and there are undoubtedly far fewer getting access to work vehicles than there are in the private sector (as should be the case).
Phht. Nothing to do with "gov cars" and everything to do with the Coles/Woolworths cartel and lack of competition.
The question is how long will Costco "fuel" keep it's price low.
how about if the petrol price is pegged by govt?
and high wages and people drive everywhere.
@brongz: That's called price ceiling, government does it and subsidise it. The problem is, the lower the price ceiling, the more the government have to subsidise it or they will produce less or even leave in extreme cases.
@AznMitch: Price regulation ain't gonna happen but the Feds could put the acid onto the ACCC to inquire into the reasons why for example Coles and WW sell fuel at X in Sydney but X+20-30 in relatively nearby regional centres.
You do realise that Coles/WW have no say in the fuel side of the servo business right? they are simply the shopfront, Shell (well Viva Energy these days) and Caltex (calstore) run the fuel side.
Costco makes its money through selling memberships - the majority of stuff they sell is at marginally above cost price.
I presume it'll be the same with their petrol business.
Its the same for most servo's, they make very little money on the actual fuel sales (couple of c per L usually), it simply serves as a funnel for instore purchasing.
@Possumbly: Government do put price ceilings on, it's just that they usually are there to stop companies charging too much, rather than to control prices.There is a good reason behind it. The best possible solution in theory would be government setting the price at the "right" place, look at the cost function and set the price at the marginal cost = marginal benefit. However, government doesn't have all the right information and the cost of setting it too low is too high for governments to risk. I can go into game theory and stuff but that leaves everything messy and I need a LOT of assumptions.
ACCC probably cannot do a lot as well, because there is economies of scale at work as well. The demand in Canberra is far less than demands in Sydney, so the volume of sales is automatically smaller and there is transportation cost meaning that the profit margin that they require would be higher. So for ACCC to do stuff, they need to consider all sort of different things which they cannot have access of.
Though, these all have several assumptions that the margin of paper is too small to fit (lel) and I probably looked over several things, but meh, it's not assessed. If I am wrong, I am wrong.
@Copie: So you sit on the boards and know the details of their arrangements and what influence WW has? Yes, WW have so little say in the fuel operations that prior to the ACCC taking them on they could offer random price reductions of 20c/litre. Woolworths undoubtedly has a significant say in many aspects of the fuel arrangement. If they didn't they'd be dudding their shareholders as well as putting their business decisions into the hands of others - which is a nonsense, unless you believe that the WW board and executives are all patsies.
@Possumbly: They have no say in pricing, thats done by Caltex/Shell, as is any and all delivery, site compliance etc. Any discounts is done by them, and not by Shell/Caltex.
@Copie: WW decides it wants to encourage supermarket purchases by giving significant discounts but doesn't organise a fuel gate pricing arrangement with its partner? Pull the other one, it whistles. Tell me this - why would Coles or WW have entered into partnerships with oil companies where they would have no say in the wholesale price to their outlets?
@Possumbly: Because they have full control of the store itself, and its profits, which is where the money is. Shell in particular no longer wanted to control/manage the retail side of their operation, Caltex is similar however they are changing face (again) moving from franchise back to self owned and operated.
@Copie: You're stretching credibilty to a ridiculous extent but I'll play the game. WW enters into an agreement whereby it has no say in the price of the fuel it receives but is prepared to sacrifice 20cpl at every outlet because of the profit it makes instore? If that's the strategy then all the small outlets - my local, Cootamundra, Wagga just to name a few - would have closed a long time ago.
@Copie: Correct. Why do you think there is no pay at the pump? The thieves want you inside purchasing overpriced, overcooked pies and the like.
@jakeau: No doubt that's part of the deal. Epump was dropped because WW wanted exclusive payment arrangements contrary to the TPA. Needless to say they didn't get it. p@p is available at some Calworths but like any business they'd like you to be tempted instore.
All off topic
Nothing to do with govt cars at all.
Prices around the central coast nsw are around a red hot rip off $1.47!!
it seems to be all major capital cities in australia have a normal price.
when u head out in the country-side, and that include Canberra as a whole, u pay 20c more on average.
The feels you get when Canberra is included in the country-side, not in major capital cities. :(
Though, I do agree, even though I like it here, in terms of position and no of people living in here, it's closer to those places in countryside rather than major cities.
That's purely due to the location of Canberra, if Canberra was near the coast, it'll have easier access as Sydney andmelbounre have and it'll have similar pricing. Also, there are no refineries nearby as well, this all forms part of the value chain in which Canberra doesn't have. So how does Canberra get petrol? Trucks driving hours from the nearest refinery ( probably from Sydney somewhere) and it ends up being more at the bowser.
So no one is getting ripped off, if you want cheaper petrol you are free to drive to Sydney or melbmorune fill up, and head back up to Canberra yourself.
Yes, but Canberra is no further away now than what it was a month ago. Prices in Syd & Mel have dropped significantly over the last month (in line with crude prices). But Canberra still pays the same ridiculously high price… even when the trucks delivering the fuel would themselves be filling up at a cheaper price!
So you're either getting it cheaper on average, or currently getting ripped off!
Obviously a troll post. Try doing some reading. Fuelwatch experts have costed the max price differential due to transport at around 5c/l, but what would they know? A short while back Novocastrians were paying 20c+ a litre more than the AVERAGE Sydney price. How far is Newcastle from Sydney? How many "refineries" in Adelaide and is that city further from Singapore than Canberra?
Those 'experts' are only guessing, unless they are read into the contracts between supplier and carrier (which they arent) they can only guess the costs associated with transportation.
@Copie: You might be guessing but they certainly are not. They're educated estimates not guesses and wouldn't be out by more than a couple of cpl. There's plenty of data out there including annual reports and govt enquiries, the ABS, Freightmetrics, but no doubt they have contacts in the road transportation business who will happily provide ballpark costs.
@Possumbly: Errr, im not guessing, i happen to work in fuel transportation, so know exactly what the costs are. Also happen to know the exact costs for many canberra service stations (since we supply them)
Part of it is yes, Not all fuel is transported Syd-Nwc either (by truck) Caltex (up until June this year used to be a coop owned between Shell/Caltex/Mobil) is piped up, BP recieves direct from ship to shore (either by their own fuel ship ex Pinkemba) or imported)
I live in Newcastle as well, so i was getting hit with the cost just like everyone else.
Let's say that we can justify the 20cpl in transportation, and that's the difference between city and regional prices. How can we then explain the price not adjusting accordingly (in regional areas) with the price of crude (as it does in the city) when it would be reasonably fair to say that transportation costs would remain a constant?
ie. $1.49 in the city recently should put the Canberra price at $1.69, but it wasn't/isn't. And now that the price has dropped to the low $1.20s in the city, the price in Canberra has remained consistently at the same $1.49 (according to locals)!
Call me stupid, but I'm not sure I understand the justification in blaming transportation costs here!
@Snoop: yes, pretty obvious, nevertheless the transport costs are nowhere near 20cpl. We've all seen price differences of 4 or 5cpl among different servos in the country a few kms apart. Must be using taxis to ferry the fuel that last km.
The transportation cost isnt exactly difficult to work out.
The distance between the two is roughly 260km, an average 25m B-double tanker uses around 2L/km on average for that trip, so uses around the 260L of diesel just to transport it, so @ 1.40l for diesel, looking at about 364 bucks just in fuel.
Then you have wages, A canberra, single drop is around the 10-11 hours (this includes pre and post trip inspections, loading + unloading), at $38 an hour (this doesnt include the drivers annual wage calculation, or sick leave etc etc) this equates to 380-418 dollars in wages.
The cost of the vehicle is the next thing, to put a 25m double on the road, your looking at around 700-800,000 dollars, this is a basic T409 kenworth or Triton mack daycab, your looking at more if it is fitted with items such as PTO pump, sleeper cabs, bullbars etc etc.
Then ontop of that you have compliance + servicing/repairs, licensing for it to be a DG vehicle, along with SLP certifications, tyres, rego etc etc.
An average 25m can cart around 52000L of diesel (depending on the vehicles mass management) which equates to around 58000L of petrol product, A 19m even less (around 45-46,000 of diesel)
The higher cost is justified somewhat because of distances and volumes, is it to 20cpl? probably not, but a portion? yes definitely.
You dont get into the fuel game to get rich.
@Copie: Yes Jo Public understands that there are transportation costs involved, the debate is about the "portion" in cpl as you put it. I've got little doubt that the estimates you claim are guesses are very much in the ballpark and nothing you've said subsequently has altered that view.
I did some research on your comment that Caltex runs the fuel side because intuitively it sounded highly unlikely as I indicated (@Copie: "You do realise that Coles/WW have no say in the fuel side of the servo business right? they are simply the shopfront, Shell (well Viva Energy these days) and Caltex (calstore) run the fuel side."
It appears I'm not the only one who thinks WW sets the fuel pricing. Ww CEO Roger Corbett said at the start in broad terms that "WW would set pricing". This was confirmed specifically when the agreement was finalised: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/28/1083103526412.html As I suggested, a business arrangement where WW had no say on the fuel side would make no business sense.
care to explain?
Yeh, Canberrans and regional people everywhere would like to know.
OK OK ACT is more expensive place.
120.7 for ULP at Budget North Strathfield NSW yesterday. 117.7 for E10.
Yes but that's not very close to Canberra. Standard petrol price in the ACT is about $1.47 atm.
Wow… you guys really are getting reamed.
It's been around the $1.20 mark for the last couple of weeks here in Sydney.
Oh yeah, hence the excitement that we're nearly close to REAL prices for petrol that other Australian cities pay!
Try living in Coffs Barbour. Currently around 1.47 and the price never fluctuates due to minimal competition. Such a rort.
@DP1000: Every time I've gone through/stayed in Coffs I've seen this. And we're talking for years now correct?
@Chris Farley:
Sure is. And there's no going south to Toormina or north to Korora they are always a few cents higher just to maintain the fix.
Not in Belconnen, unless you're factoring in the supermarket docket.
Just posting it as a comparison, not an alternative.
Just a warning before you all head off to Costco to fill up. From my understanding you need to pre-pay with your credit card and then the difference is returned to you in a few days.
yeah, although I got mines 1 day later
just need to accurately determine how much u need, or do it twice
the prices are quite good though
Not how it worked yesterday. you punch in a set amount but whatever the pump stops at is the amount on your receipt and the amount extracted from your account.
Not exactly. Last week I was charged $80 (preauthorisation), charged ~$60 (my actual fuel cost) and then refunded the $80 preauth. All this happened pretty close to instantly, but this could be an issue if you're account is running low.
@tplen1: Okay, I wasn't monitoring my bank account as I filled. Don't know how your bank deals with CC authorisations but at Bankwest they have no effect on your balance at all.
A true Ozbarginer would get the Big W e gift cards at 7.5% off and have a 4c voucher in hand and fill up at Woolies.
u forgot about the staff card additional discount!
Which job do you suggest I apply for at Woolies that will be give me maximum time to surf OzBargain?
Probably Masters, staff always seem to be running away from customers when you approach them.
129.7c/L 95# unleaded @ Wollie Caltex Shellharbour this morning, minus 4c voucher and another 4c discount for buying 6L milk, 121.7c/L is pretty good for premium 95#, let alone another 9.5% off on my groupon caltex e-gift card, which brought the actual price down to 110.3c/L.
BTW: My cashrewards for that groupon transaction is still pending, anyone got theirs clear?
yaaaaaayyyyyyy
Might cost a little extra, just remember that the majority of Canberra folks travel less. Just ask the taxi drivers :)
Lol.
I think a lot of people that post here don't realise what the prices are in Canberra….. People posting fuel prices elsewhere is pointless as it's too far for people in the ACT.
The fuel prices NEVER fluctuate in Canberra, they always sit at $1.47-1.51 for unleaded 91.
Which is why we're saying that they're getting ripped off. As you would know, Melbourne too was avg $1.49 only a few weeks ago. But as I stated earlier, the price of crude has dropped significantly over the last month, and thus, has reduced the price of petrol here, and as it sounds, around the country in general… Except for the ACT!
You'd have to be asking yourself why you're paying more than anyone else?
Isn't that because of higher pay rate, securer job and constant salary increase for serving in the public sector?
Shouldn't make any difference. I wouldn't think a person standing at the register in Canberra is getting paid any more than someone in let's say Goulburn.
As for average income, job security, etc. The much more affluent area's of Melbourne don't average any higher petrol prices!
@Snoop: But once you can safely isolate such a group of people in a small area, who can afford the higher price and can't drive 500 kms at least to find a cheaper price, things will be different.
Partly true (it's primarily a lack of competition problem) but that doesn't explain why regional prices have been kept ridiculously high. Fuel companies love to play the parity pricing game when oil prices are high but oddly don't want to play the game when the oil price drops. No worries though because the ACCC will protect us - yes that's a joke, a mighty big one.
secure jobs???
With 1000's of job cuts across the public sector, primarily in Canberra. And the public sector being a major employer, it's negatively impacted all industries.
Even the rental housing market has seen big drops because of current oversupply due to ongoing job losses and people leaving Canberra. Trying to rent out a house when the tenants vacate means dropping the rent by 15-20%. But tenants that have existing leases don't get a reduction, nor when they go on month-month at the end of their lease.
Building industry is in a massive downturn with huge job losses. I have building clients that have cut staff numbers by more than 50%!
@thedriver: You could ask. When my lease ended 6 months ago I asked them to reduce the rent from $500 a week to $450 and they did. It's easier for them to rent it out cheaper than it is to find a new tenant.
We know we're getting ripped off. Not much you can do about it though. Canberra is a city designed to drive around so people do and it has one of the highest non-mining average income in the country.
So we get ripped off on everything.
$1.17 here in Sydney.
Friendly reminder…
Motormouth.com.au
Interesting, I have not seen Costco Petrol here in Melbourne.
Is it members only, like the stores?