Hello from the team at MotorMouth

The emails from our members this month have been focussed on one point – what’s happened to the price of petrol since the price of oil is now at $40 US a barrel?

As my sore fingers will attest, yes the price of oil is at $40 US a barrel (or thereabouts); however when it comes to working out the price of petrol in Australia, the price for a barrel of black gold in Texas doesn’t translate directly to the bowsers in Australia.

And here’s why.

Prices for petrol in Australia are based on the price of petrol in international markets. This is because petrol is a commodity just like silver, gold or…oil – note the distinction I am making between PETROL and OIL. Our petrol price is influenced by the enormous oil refining activity in the Asia Pacific and this is reflected in traded prices for petrol in Singapore. So, Australian petrol prices will follow international prices for refined petrol in Singapore more closely than the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil.

However, because WTI is the price most quoted in the media it can confuse the issue.

Which begs the question – why don’t the media quote the price of refined petrol in Singapore, and not WTI? The major reason is that getting live access to the price of West Texas Intermediate is commonly available – and access to the live price for MOGAS95 (a refined petrol product most used to indicate prices in Australia) in Singapore isn’t.

Right. So what’s happened since Christmas? Basically the price of MOGAS95 has gone from around 30c AUD a litre to nearly 65c AUD a litre - which is eerily close to the increase in prices we have seen since Christmas…

I hope that helps clear up some of the confusion.

If you want to keep track of recent prices (lagged around 2 weeks) for MOGAS95 then the ACCC have a useful web page that you can keep an eye on if you are interested. It’s located here.

While the price of petrol fluctuates weekly there will still be cases where the price appears to be a bit high or a bit low – but at least you’ll know what’s really driving the price of petrol in Australia. And of course, MotorMouth is the best place to find the cheapest petrol near you.

Until next month, take care and safe motoring.

Sean Rennick
MotorMouth

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The average, lowest and the highest Unleaded prices for February 2009 in each city were:

The price leading service stations for Unleaded in each city in February 2009 were:

Brisbane	Service Station Matilda Address Boundary Rd & Tile St Suburb Wacol Average Price for month 112.0
Sydney	Service Station Joes Petroleum Address 101 Hector St & Waldron Rd Suburb Chester Hill Average Price for month 114.6
Melbourne	Service Station United Address 893 Wellington Rd Suburb Rowville Average Price for month 118.9
Adelaide	Service Station Caltex/Woolworths Address 801 Port Rd Suburb Woodville Average Price for month 120.0
Perth	Service Station Caltex/Woolworths Gwelup Address 490 Karrinyup Rd & North Beach Rd Suburb Karrinyup Average Price for month 111.5

The average, lowest and the highest Diesel prices for February 2009 in each city were:

The price leading service stations for Diesel in each city in February 2009 were:

Brisbane	Service Station Ampol Address 114 Sherwood Rd & Golf Links Rd Suburb Rocklea Average Price for month 105.8
Sydney	Service Station Mobil Address Blacktown Rd & 62 Leabons Ln Suburb Blacktown Average Price for month 137.7
Melbourne	Service Station Bulleen Fuel Address 237-241 Bulleen Rd Suburb Bulleen Average Price for month 115.5
Adelaide	Service Station Liberty Address 25 Og Rd Suburb Klemzig Average Price for month 115.9
Perth	Service Station United Address Berrigan Dr & South Lake Dr Suburb South Lake Average Price for month 115.7

The average, lowest and the highest LPG prices for February 2009 in each city were:

The price leading service stations for LPG in each city in February 2009 were:

Brisbane	Service Station BP Address 1069 Wynnum Rd & Creek Rd Suburb Cannon Hill Average Price for month 49.9
Sydney	Service Station Caltex/Woolworths Address 862 Hume Hwy Suburb Bass Hill Average Price for month 44.5
Melbourne	Service Station Coles Express Address Jacksons Rd & Police Rd Suburb Mulgrave Average Price for month 38.6
Adelaide	Service Station SAFF Address 237 Martins Rd Suburb Parafield Gardens Average Price for month 50.9
Perth	Service Station Coles Express Address 1-5 Guildford Rd & Walcott Rd Suburb Mount Lawley Average Price for month 43.9

MotorMouth is committed to helping Australian motorists get a better deal on fuel by providing them with free and easily accessible information on fuel prices.