Western Melbourne servos selling petrol for only 96.9c a litre

Jack Paynter, Wyndham Leader

March 20, 2020

HERALDSUN.COM.AU

Fuel prices in Melbourne’s west have dropped to some of the lowest in the country as motorists cash in on the plummeting cost of crude oil worldwide.

The rare sight of unleaded petrol below $1 per litre – brought on by the coronavirus pandemic – has seen drivers flock to service stations in Laverton North on Friday morning.

Unleaded has fallen to 96.9 cents per litre at BP on Fitzgerald Rd and Caltex on Leakes Rd, with the mini price war also causing Coles Express on Fitzgerald Rd to drop their price to 97.9 cents.

Altona North’s Wade Collins said it was “bloody brilliant” and he couldn’t help but stop on his way to work.

“The cheapest place is right here, it’s been well over a year since I’ve seen it like this so everyone should get the fuel while it’s cheap,” he told the Leader/Herald Sun.

“I saw another fuel station that was $1.59 – a massive 60 cents a litre difference.

“I don’t know why it’s so different from fuel station to fuel station but it should be the same across the board.”

Jason Alush said he drove 10km to score the cheapest price at BP.

“It’s a joke, somewhere it’s $1.60 right now and it’s under $1 here, I’d come back here for sure,” he said.

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Melton’s Dale Ford, who took a 10-minute detour on his way to Rockbank from Essendon to fill up at BP, said he couldn’t remember the last time he saw a lower price.

Taylor Kemp, 28, from Tarneit, was “gobsmacked” by the low price.

“I have never seen prices that low, not since I was a little girl and my parents used to crack it when the price went above $1,” she said.

She said a lot of prices in her local area had already shot back up to $1.60 but she had been keeping a close eye on the mobile app Petrol Spy to track the cheapest fuel.

“Other petrol stations should stop taking advantage of a crisis, it’s the last thing we need as hard working Australians,” Ms Kemp said.

But motorists in Melbourne’s east weren’t so lucky, with drivers still being slugged $1.59 at Caltex on Mt Dandenong Rd in Ringwood, while across the road at Coles Express unleaded was $1.15.

Coles Express on Smithfield Rd, Kensington was also charging $1.59.

The RACV’s price monitoring service said motorists should not pay above $1.16 in Melbourne on Friday.

But it still recorded the average price at more than $1.28 per litre, with some service stations charging $1.60.

RACV senior vehicle engineer Nicholas Platt said wholesale prices for unleaded petrol dropped below a dollar for the first time in four years overnight.

“The wholesale price of ULP is now 96.4 cents per litre, the lowest figure since February 2016,” he said.

But he said one quarter of service stations across Melbourne had increased prices to $1.59, a margin of more than 60 cents on every litre of unleaded fuel sold.

“RACV believes there is no justification for prices to be above this level,” he said.

“Two service stations in Laverton are currently selling ULP for 96.9 cents a litre, while across Melbourne 126 service stations are currently selling for just under $1.16.”

He said more than half were also selling petrol for under $1.17 and urged motorists to shop around and use price comparison apps or websites.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it would closely monitor retail petrol prices in Australia in coming weeks to determine if the recent falls in international crude oil and refined petrol prices were flowing through to consumers.

The commission said changes in international refined petrol prices usually took between one and two weeks to be reflected in retail petrol prices in the larger capital cities, and longer in the smaller capital cities and in regional areas.

“We will be looking at the market very closely, to determine if further sustained reductions in international prices are being passed onto consumers, and we will be publicly identifying those retailers that are not passing on reductions,” ACCC chair Rod Sims said.

“The ACCC cannot control the petrol prices companies set but we can call out problematic price setting which can influence company behaviour.”