The expense of petrol…

Petrol fees us a fortune. For most of us, transport expenses are just behind housing and meals in terms of most significant living expenses. So – what influences the price of our petrol in Australia? The ACCC advises that fuel costs are influenced by a quantity of aspects, with the considerable ones being:

• Changes in international benchmark costs – the price that our overseas competitors are charging. Regional oil refineries need to stay price tag-competitive with overseas competitors.


• The worth of the Australian dollar relative to the US dollar – this affects each the cost of crude oil and imported petrol as international benchmark costs are valued according to the $ USD.  A weaker Aussie dollar leads to greater import prices.


• Levels of competitors in diverse locations – as with any industry, supply and demand will usually play a element in figuring out pricing.


• Pricing choices by wholesalers and retailers – the costs of transport, storage, salaries and other overheads that are incurred by both wholesalers and retailers also add to the cost of our fuel.

Then of course there are taxes. All fuel prices include 10% GST, and petrol and diesel also incur a fixed Federal Government Excise of 38 cents per litre. Hmmm. There is a great tiny graphic on the Australian Institute of Petroleum internet site, displaying how the price tag we pay at the bowser is divvied up among the initial supplier, the government (the aforementioned taxes), the wholesaler and the retailer. Retailers do not make a high profit margin on petrol – a purpose why several service stations nowadays resemble mini supermarkets.

Supply: www.aip.com.au   Even though it’s interesting data, it is not significantly assist if you require to fill up now! There are nonetheless a quantity of fuelwatch-variety website, such as this 1 set up by the Western Australia Department of Commerce. Google some thing similar in your state. It could save you some cash!  

The expense of petrol…