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Fuelling anger
23jan02
The Daily Telegraph
MOTORISTS can save up to $200 a year in petrol costs by refuelling on Tuesdays, an inquiry has found.
And prices at the pump vary by as much as 5c a litre in a week, with the most expensive day being Thursday.
The NRMA investigation into fluctuating petrol prices comes on the eve of the Federal Government's release of a report into the price of fuel.
The research, obtained by The Daily Telegraph , revealed the price of fuel rose towards the end of the week when demand was at its highest. The price began to fall again on Sunday evening, reaching its lowest level on Tuesdays.
The figures, provided by the NRMA's Fuelwatch, show prices during the past three weeks jumped an average 5c between Tuesday and the end of the week.
The NSW Government, when told of the investigation last night, called on motorists to be vigilant and report any collusion to the NSW Department of Fair Trading.
Fair Trading Minister John Aquilina said the Government supported the research and encouraged consumers to use the information to buy petrol when it was at its cheapest.
"If people find evidence of collusion amongst service stations sellers they should ring Fair Trading and we will pass that information on to the ACCC," a spokesman for Mr Aquilina said last night. The Fuelwatch report found:
• The average Sydney petrol price was 78.6c a litre on Tuesday, January 8. By Thursday, January 10, the price had risen to 83.2c;
• The average Sydney petrol price was 76.4c a litre on Tuesday, January 15. It was 81.6c a litre two days later.
Eddy Magar, spokesman for independent Volume Plus stations, last night agreed prices had "gone back to the regular weekly cycle of ramping up on Tuesday night".
"The big boys can do whatever they want with their own sites, they have control of the prices," he said.
"It takes one person to lift the price on Tuesday and all the others move with them."
"The rise and fall of petrol prices appears to be following a more stable pattern after months of uncertainty following the September 11 terrorist attacks," NRMA CEO Rob Carter said.
He said there was no evidence of collusion.
"When motorists get caught out and need to refuel late in the week and on weekends, the demand tends to push the price up at the bowser," Mr Carter said.
"Early in the week, when demand drops off, the price of petrol tends to become more competitive."
Motorists could save up to $4 per tank by shopping around for the cheapest price.
"I think prices were kept low over Christmas because of public pressure," Service Station Association president Kevin Hughes said yesterday.
"Oil companies discriminate by telling operators what price they should sell their petrol. If they don't, they don't get any price support."
He said the only way to eliminate price fluctuations was to adopt terminal gate pricing, where operators buy their petrol at a fixed cost and determine for themselves what price they sell it at.
A Caltex spokesman denied any involvement on the part of oil companies in determining prices.
"Petrol prices are like the race track, it's so transparent and competitive, with price boards for everyone to see," he said.
"Independent operators lead the market down on the day which they choose to move.
"Then the price is lead up on Wednesday to recover from low and unsustainable prices."
The spokesman also said the market is frequently "oversupplied" with petrol, which creates a need to "clear" excess fuel.
"People have to remember Australia enjoys one of the cheapest pre-tax petrol prices in the world." he said.
"With every litre, you're paying 38.1c excise and 10 per cent GST to the federal government."
Other oil company spokesmen attributed the price fluctuation to "market forces".
The good news for consumers was that, overall, prices had fallen from an average 80c at the beginning of January to 75c yesterday.
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