The NRMA’s latest report has uncovered the growing gap in prices between E10 and premium fuels and Australia’s growing reliance on Asian refineries.
The ‘Making cents of fuel’ report finds that since 2012 the gap between E10 and regular unleaded in Sydney fell 0.1 cents per litre (cpl) to 1.4 cpl. By contrast, Premium 98 rose 7.2 cents to 24.6 cpl and Premium 95 rose 6.1 cents to 19.1 cpl.
The report shows the significance of this growing price gap with Premium 98 sales now representing 15.7% of the 8.2 billion litres of fuel sold in NSW over the last year.
Since 2010/11, fuel sales have increased 5.7%. However, of concern to the NRMA is the plummeting sales of E10 (fall of 51%) and regular unleaded (fall of 13.1%) – Australia’s cheapest fuels – while premium fuel sales rose 18.8% over that time.
Diesel continues to be the dominant retail fuel type sold in NSW with 3.18 billion litres sold last year (10.5 billion nationwide), representing almost 39% of the total fuel sales. Two-thirds of all fuel diesel sold in Australia is sold under contract to Australia’s largest industries.
Price cycles
‘Making cents of fuel’ also details the role of price cycles in influencing prices in Australia’s largest capital cities. Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne price cycles varied from 11 to 68 days and have grown longer over time, exposing motorists in those cities to higher prices.
As a result, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart are all cheaper in order than Australia’s largest cities.
“Worryingly, more regional towns are now on average cheaper than Sydney including Newcastle, Queanbeyan, Albury, Bathurst, Dubbo and Port Macquarie,” says the NRMA.
Refining capacity
Australia’s refining capacity has fallen 72% since 2003 with only two remaining refineries in Brisbane and Geelong capable of refining a combined 14,000 megalitres of fuel. The largest refinery in Asia can refine up to 70,000 megalitres of fuel.
Last year, Australia imported 9,816 megalitres of crude oil – down 69% since 2010/11. Australia’s main suppliers are:
- Malaysia 40.5%
- The US 16.9%
- Vietnam 12.8%
By contrast, Australia has seen an almost four-fold increase in refined fuel imported into the country over the same timeframe. Almost all refined fuels imported into Australia are now coming from Asia with the nation’s main suppliers:
- Korea 31.9%
- Singapore 22.6%
- Malaysia 13.2%
Helping Aussies
NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury says giving Australians a detailed understanding of the nation’s relationship with fuel and, in particular, the fuel price cycles, will ultimately help them save money at the bowser.
“Understanding fuel is more important than ever as the nation struggles with inflationary pressures and the budgets of Australian families buckle under the strain of volatile and fluctuating fuel costs – addressing this challenge is a major priority for the NRMA,” he says.
“The longer price cycles in Australia’s largest cities have left Australians living there exposed to higher prices. However, if we can help families navigate their way around these cycles, we can help them save hundreds of dollars a year.”
