Sydney Fuel Price Skyrocketing This Week

Why is the price of fuel so much higher this week?

I had 1/2 tank left on the weekend and thought maybe it would become cheaper as the lockdown kick in.

To my surprise, the price of E10 have gone from $1.29 to $1.79 here at Galesville.

What the rationale? Was not aware of supply issue overseas. Is this just the retailers price gauging commuters?

Same can be said about (NSW) regional accommodations. I am all for supporting the local communities but not at 2x or 3x the normal price. Part of me think this latest lockdown is a bit of karma for them.

Comments

  • +17

    Same in Victoria

    • Although it's still about 1.30 in regional Victoria.

      I think it's price gouging more than anything

  • +17

    Melbourne jumped last week (similarly from high 120s to high 170s).

    Hasn't the ACCC already ruled in that the cycle behaviour is unrelated to actual fuel prices but, because everyone does it, it's not anti-consumer? So yeah, pretty much price gouging, but not like there's a choice to avoid it (aside from Costco or buying an EV).

    • +1

      or Diesel. they dont have a price cycle. It's fairly slow moving.

      • Even though its price is not as volatile as that of petrol I've noticed it has gone up in the last month or so by about 10c.

        • +1

          ah. I hadnt noticed. I'm in hermit mode at home as required by the govt. shrug.

        • +2

          even LPG went up the last few months. I had to pay 68c the other day!!!

    • +5

      I avoid it by filling up before it gets expensive.

      • +7

        How do you know when it's going to go up?

        • +32

          I use petrol spy.

          In Melbourne, look for the graph they give, after about 6-8 weeks of top it’s near bottom. Then look at suburbs of Elsternwick, they always go up first unfortunately, so after that you have about 10 days to fill up in other burbs.

          If you’re that keen eyed, you can still see the price spread from those suburbs and you should still have 3-5 days to fill up, assuming you don’t live in the SE burbs.

          I’ve been msging fam when to fill up for years now using this.

          • +10

            @cloudy: with 7-Eleven lock I don't even bother with the cycle anymore, it's been over 3 years and I never paid top price for petrol, in fact most of the time I only paid less than $1.2/l, it only crept above that mark in the last few months.

            • @lgacb08: Yea I usually go woolies for 4c and 5% off total.

              So I usually pay 1.10

          • +1

            @cloudy: Your fuel cycle is 6-8 weeks?! Jesus. It's 1 week in WA. Just fill up on Tuesday for $1.20 easy (for 91)

        • I'm in Melbourne, and as soon as I notice a sharp increase at any servo I go and fill up at one that hasn't gone up yet. From my experience they don't all go up at the same time, even in the same area.

      • +2

        Can I borrow your crystal ball for a while, I am thinking of buying some crypto

        • +1

          That’s an easy one, crypto is a scam, unproductive, no cash flow, completely reliant on the greater fool to pay more.

          If you want a crystal ball to make money that’s easy.

          • @cloudy: Then I guess I'll just have to be a crazy rich fool! 🤯💸

            • @Skinnerr: You’re not nearly as rich as you think I suspect

    • Canberra doesn't have a cycle and has jumped 12c after months of stability

      • Canberra jumps up as soon as the Costco fuel closes :P

        • It doesn't actually, only the adjacent Woolies used to and they don't even try anymore since becoming EG.

          • @archiexyz: What's EG?

            Although I'm not in Canberra, I do go over there a bit. I'm just curious about that 'name'.

            • @Kandrew: EG fuel

              It's what Caltex woolies got rebranded/taken over by

              Standalone Caltex stations became Ampol

              • @cwongtech: Thanks.

                The rollout must be taking some time. In Wagga Wagga, only one of the standalone Caltex stations has become Ampol. There are at least 5 more unchanged. And neither of the two Caltex Woolworths stations has changed.

                Sorry for the off-topic question and comment.

    • -5

      Its all about GST revenue, ACCC will never intervene their a s es are owned by the Feds who in turn love it when sellers boost prices.

    • -2

      I avoid this completely by simply buying at the bottom of the cycles and then locking in the price on the 7 eleven app.

    • +6

      It actually makes it MORE anti-competitive that everyone does it. It is called collusion. The ACCC is peak as pss to not crack down on the BS petrol price "cycle". Name one other industry that gets away with this?

      • This is actually called cartel conduct, which is very illegal. Pretty dodgy stuff.

      • Nailed it. It's a protection racket.

    • We're now paying $0.47 per liter fuel tax.

      • +3

        If they got rid of that, petrol companies would still charge the same.

  • +4

    poor that amazon delivery contractors… do you think they make decent money using their own car pay petrol for delivering amazon parcels ????

    • -1

      All in hybrids so probably no worries!

      • Huh? Not what i've seen, they use all sorts of cars. If there was a good small electric van on the market <$30k i'd be keen to pick up this kind of work too (but not for Amazon at current rate of pay).

        • +1

          they use all sorts of cars

          I saw a Porsche SUV with "courier" on the side and full of cardboard boxes also BMW X5 with CPV/Uber signs. These are people with more money than sense. most likely a loss. I was being nice suggesting they are ALL in hybrids.

          • +3

            @netjock: It's quite likely these people have purchased vehicles and are yet to discover the horrific per kilometre depreciation. But Amazon/Uber need not worry, as there's a constant stream of new people who can't do maths waiting to take their place.

          • @netjock: Some poeple work for money, some for fun maybe?

    • +4

      $108 per 4 hour block + wear and tear on their own car, maintenance, fuel, tax.. it's a tough gig. We need options like this for people who want flexible work, but it is critical that they pay fairly. That is not an easy job, quite stressful if you get given a lot of parcels/CBD areas/apartments and Amazon don't treat their workers with much respect.

      • It is important to get a side hustle to support the life you can barely afford with barely above poverty pay.

        • I got a temp delivery job at a friend's company during the Coles 10% off Mastercard week. It has been great:)

  • +6

    Last week too, rational? lockdown very little traffic, very little use, reason = FU

    Suggest people shop around and use this site/app
    https://www.fuelcheck.nsw.gov.au/app

  • +10

    The price started going up at the beginning of last week (10 days ago) at a few petrol stations.

    You need to use a fuel check app and start looking around Sydney at least a week before any holiday (long weekend, easter, chrisy or school holidays) to see if there are any petrol stations that have increased theor price by at least 20c and if they have look every day and if the number increases go and fill the car/4wd/truck etc before all of the petrol stations in your suburb increase the price.

    As for the rationale look at the investigations that have been done over the years on the price increase before holidays. I disagree with the conclusions as they do not make sense when compared to the actual reality of the price hike occurring before 90+% of holidays.

    My rationale is it's a standard called the petrol price cycle and the cycle heads up before any holiday period so they make more profit, but the difference between the low and high are getting larger and larger, which IMHO does not make sense.

  • +15

    Get to the chopper..naow!

  • Hmm volumes down so they gotta make $ by jacking up the price?

    Maybe not:
    https://www.aip.com.au/pricing/international-prices/internat…

    • volumes down so they gotta make $ by jacking up the price?

      When Supply > demand
      Then price goes ↓ not up.

      • +3

        Not if there is collusion.
        Econ 101 does not apply.

        • Criminal activities are different.

      • After a delay. It took quite a while for prices to fall when all this conningvirus nonsense began, then took a much shorter time to jump again.

  • +2

    Why should it be cheaper? Less customers for fuel, need to pay rent etc, need more profit per customer.

    • +1

      Last year when lockdown hit, prices went way down. Prices have only recently started going up solidly, consistently. But now with this lockdown, it seems that the prices are jumping.

      I don't think that your - or their - 'logic' is in fact, logical. Or, if it is, then last lockdown it wasn't.

      It doesn't work both ways.

      • +2

        Last time the lockdown price drop was elated to a drastic drop in global demand, not just locally. This time the lockdown is pretty much Sydney only in NSW, the rest of us are carrying on as normal (except for cancelled holidays)

        • I get what you're saying. But I think that it's only partially true.

          It's certainly true of Australia - I'll grant you that.

          The Americans do their own thing, so they don't come into play, but neither did they come into play last time, either, I think.

          The U.K. is still not driving much, and neither is most of Europe, as I understand it.

          COVID-19 is still a huge problem in South America but I don't know how their driving habits have been affected. The same goes for a lot of Africa.

          I have little knowledge of Asia or the Middle East in that respect.

    • Less customers? Roads are busier than they were before covid. Bloody nearly every hour there's traffic nowadays.

      • During lockdown too?

    • +2

      So by that reasoning, when there are more people driving, the price should go down, and yet it doesn’t,,,

      • +1

        It kinda does. When things are good competition sees the price drop slowly - until for some reason thy can’t cope with low prices and jack it up again. You know, the old price cycle.

        It’s not a definitive reason, just my musings as to what might be happening if the usual factors aren’t in play.

    • +1

      Why should it be cheaper? Less customers for fuel

      Basic economic.
      When Supply > demand
      Then price goes ↓

      • -4

        Fuel is a bit different. It’s a necessity for many and you may not have a choice but to pay the price. Can’t make it at home or substitute something different. When you need it, you need it.

        • +1

          Still wrong mate. Economics is economics. Economics also takes in many other factors. Supply and demand is the basic one.

          Take Avacado for $1 from Coles and Woolies. If supply exceed than demand, then the price will drop.

          • @No ONE: Of corse supply and demand is a big part of it. I just offered an alternative as to why prices might be up.

            Anyone on the roads in Sydney at the moment pretty much has to be there. Anyone who would normally have a choice is staying home because they have to. Those buying fuel right now don’t have a choice. Therefore the current market is altered from the basic supply demand normal. Plenty of supply (probably), but anyone driving doesn’t have a choice and has to buy fuel when they run out why wouldn’t you charge a bit extra.

            I’d be interested to see what the difference in fuel volumes is right now.

            Avocado is a different commodity. Purely related to supply and demand because it is not a necessity, some would say even a luxury. Quite easy to look at avocados and decide not to buy at a higher price because you can still get other cheap food. You want to sell avocados you charge the highest rate the market will bear. If you aren’t selling you drop the price.

  • and costco is at 127 - 52 cent per liter discount - 97 liters used to get back $50

    in europe price of fuel is at $2.20 plus more

    • +2

      while we have excise tax on our fuel, in europe greater taxes are built into the cost of fuel

      • +4

        and the quality of our fuel is sub par compared to Europe

        • Oh yeah that makes sense. The fuel companies would always spend superior quality to Australia because Scomo would yell at them otherwise 🤣🤣🤣

  • +1

    Impending petrol price rises are sometimes reported in the news, so a good time to fill up beforehand: News

  • OP, do you happen to mean Gladesville? Apex in West Ryde is where you should top up.

    • OK, found it on the FuelCheck app. Thanks.

    • Do you know why Apex at West Ryde always have long queues to fill up? Neighbouring stations have almost the same price, I always find a long queue there - Google reviews aren't that great either !

      • Is this the one on Victoria Road in the direction of Parramatta? If so, I guess it's because it comes before the next one, which most of the time is the same price, but people don't want to take a gamble and miss out in case it isn't.

        • I don't think that's the case. I've seen mostly taxis lining up here. Queues get huge at some time.

  • +2

    Government jacked up the fuel excise as a supporting measure to the lockdown.

    …that's all I got.

  • +8

    If you weren't already aware, you can track the fuel price cycle here

    Sydney looks like it is at the peak, so if you can hold off for a while then prices are on their way down (slowly…..)

    • +2

      Interesting to compare Perth's really strong weekly cycle compared to the other capitals.

      • +1

        Yep I'm in Perth and this thread is fascinating.

        I just fill up on Tuesday. Or the weekend if I'm lazy as it's not too bad then either

      • I own a hybrid and an EV (daily drive) so visit the petrol station once every ~8 weeks now.

        • So you still need to go on the best week though

  • +3

    Happens every week here in WA.

    Fuel drifts down in price from day-to-day until reaching a minimum on Tuesday.

    Then jumps 50c or so on Wednesday, and the cycle starts again.

    There is variation in this general pattern, sometimes quite significant (for example, the only CostCo (at Perth Airport) tends to not follow the main cycle).

    Luckily fuelwatch.wa.gov.au gives you today's prices and (after 230pm) tomorrow's prices, so you can try to locate the exceptions if you're caught short on Wednesday.

    I try to fill everything up every Monday or Tuesday.

  • +7

    Doesn't it always go up in school holidays & long weekends?

    These prices were programed a long time ago…

  • +3

    Just fly your helicopter with 7-11?

  • BS post my area has 90% at the crap price but 10% still obtainable low 130's .

  • +1

    I had 1/2 tank left on the weekend and thought maybe it would become cheaper as the lockdown kick in.

    They "justify" this by claiming they need to keep the servo running for much less customers during lockdown. So each customer has to pay more.

    Sometime I do hope that people do move over to EV to show these pirates the finger

    The bad thing is when all the servos in your area team up to increase the price, nothing you can do about it. But you can just fill up just enough to get through short period of time, and wait for the price drop.

    • +2

      move over to EV to show these pirates the finger

      Then your state government gives you 2 middle fingers by taxing EVs based on kilometers driven.

    • In 10 years most people will use EV.

  • +2

    I can't speak to the logic, but this got flagged a week ago … I got it before the price hikes.

  • +2

    This article from the 22nd mentions the Singapore Mogas 95 trading at $80 a barrel being the reason why. Also Sydney.

  • +6

    7/11 fuel app with project zero three and 3u tools

    thanks me later.

    • +1

      …Any easy way to do this on android though without root?

      • not that I am aware, borrow someones Iphone is what I do

      • For android, no, you MUST do it via root.
        That's the only way to present a mock location as native without it being detected.

        Try find an old android phone you can experiment on.

        Successful phones I've carried the process out on
        Xperia Z5 (Sumire)
        Xperia Z5C (Suzuran)
        Pixel 2 (Walleye)
        Samsung A20 (A205YN, VAP & XSA)
        Nexus 6P (angler)
        Moto G8 (rav)
        Samsung S6 Edge+ (G928I)

        Those in bold are currently part of my active fleet of choppers
        The other phones are in service but operated by other individuals

        It should take you around 5-6 hours (or more) to set up a phone for 7/11, if you have no experience
        For each new phone I take around 2-4 hours to set it up depending on whether it's a weird configuration (like Samsung and it's ODIN program)
        Pixels (and any other almost-stock-google phone) I find are the easiest to carry out the process on.

        Once it's set up though, it takes you around 3 minutes to lock for yourself.
        Most of that time is signing in to the 7/11 app and relocating.

  • At the moment in Qld (Lockdown) the fuel price is around $1.51 to $1.95 for u98

  • I always locked in with the 7/11, just before the widespread jump in price.

  • +4

    Inflation is coming. The silent tax that keeps on giving year after year after year after year after year.

    Don't be the last one to do something a about it.

  • The price will largely be set by the international markets, not by one lockdown in Sydney. A lockdown may create a small reduction when retailers want to clear the stock, but they buy it internationally.

  • +1

    Look at it as a carcinogen tax to offset the cancer you give to people. Then you’ll feel better!

  • the price will soon go down, way down.
    All those ships currently on their way to Australia with a belly full of fuel and no one is buying fuel at the moment.
    Happened during last years lockdown.

    • Lol obviously you don't know the no brainer thing of looking at commodity prices and weaker AUD that shows that is not happening anytime soon :)

      • Maybe not however fuel today near me is $1.29. I dont know much however i would consider it way down on the $1.89 it was 3 weeks ago. lol

        • That's just two points in the fuel cycle, not the average price. In Perth you'd get that price difference between Tuesday (being the lowest point) and Wednesday when the cycle restarts.

          The average monthly price in Perth was 122.4 in Jan, it's been on the steady rise the past 6 months and is now 148.6 for July. That's a monthly average which is a far better representation of the trend compared to 2 data points.
          Watch the crude oil price, when that goes up, fuel will shortly go up.

  • +1

    Now price of oil around usd70, was60 earlier 2021, but petrol price hardly dropped! Profiteering in play and govt tax extremely high.

  • +1

    It's a regular price cycle.

    All explained here:

    https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/ACCC%20Petrol%20price%2…

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