Retail petrol prices across Australia’s five largest cities were lower in the March quarter, according to the ACCC’s latest quarterly petrol monitoring report. Daily average prices, however, increased in April to a new nominal high.
In the March quarter, average retail petrol prices across the five largest cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth) were 193.2¢ per litre (cpl). This was a decrease of 1.7 cpl from the December quarter 2023 (194.9 cpl).
Among the five largest cities, quarterly average petrol prices decreased the most in Perth (by 4.1 cpl), with average Brisbane prices increasing by 1.4 cpl. Brisbane’s average retail petrol prices were the highest of the five largest cities (200.0 cpl).
On 30 April, seven-day average retail petrol prices across the five largest cities moved to a record high in nominal terms, of 215.2 cpl.
While average retail petrol prices in April were below the highest price levels seen in the past in real (inflation adjusted) terms, the effects of recent international factors and geo-political events on benchmark prices continued to influence “relatively high” Australian retail petrol prices.
“Daily average retail petrol prices increased across the five major cities in April following increases in international refined petrol prices and as petrol price cycles in several cities moved towards the highest point of the cycles,” says ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey.
Retail diesel prices fall
Quarterly average retail diesel prices in the five largest cities were 195.7 cpl in the March quarter, a decrease of 12.3 cpl from the December quarter 2023 (208.0 cpl).
“Lower average international refined diesel benchmark prices compared with the previous quarter led to a drop of more than 10 cpl in the quarterly average retail diesel prices in each of the capital cities,” says Ms Brakey.
