The ACCC’s latest petrol industry report on fuel price apps and websites and petrol price cycles illustrates the benefits that fuel price apps and websites can bring.
“In the current economic climate, finding savings is important to many motorists. Using apps and websites to choose where and when to fill up can help consumers save money,” says ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey.
In the first half of 2024, the ACCC found over 40 free to use fuel price apps and websites from various providers, ranging from state and territory governments, motoring groups and commercial companies.
“Our study has found that downloads of fuel price apps and the number of active app users have increased over time. These are powerful tools for motorists looking for lower fuel prices, which may be only a short drive away,” says Ms Brakey.
Many fuel price apps and websites display near real-time retail fuel prices on a map or in a list, with price data collected as part of various state and territory government fuel price transparency schemes, as well as data from other data sources.
Fuel price apps and websites include the FuelCheck NSW app and website (which also covers the ACT), the Northern Territory MyFuel NT website, and the FuelWatch WA website.
The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland, the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia and Royal Automobile Club of Victoria also have apps.
Commercial providers such as MotorMouth, PetrolSpy and others have price apps available as well.
Fuel price transparency schemes
Fuel price transparency schemes are a key source of near real-time price data for fuel apps and websites. These schemes have been introduced in various states and territories since 2001, and now cover all jurisdictions except Victoria.
The schemes require fuel retailers to report their retail fuel prices, usually within 30 minutes of a price change. Data is then made available for apps and websites to display for consumer use.
“These schemes provide transparency of easily accessible retail fuel price information for consumers, that is comprehensive, timely and accurate to a large degree,” says the ACCC.
“For Victorian motorists, the available fuel price apps and websites still provide useful information to shop around. However, most of the available services are not comprehensive (as they do not cover all retail sites).”
Petrol price cycles
The ACCC’s analysis shows that petrol price cycles have become longer in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. From 2018 to 2023, the average duration of price cycles in these cities increased from around four weeks to around seven weeks.
The ACCC website lets motorists know about movements in petrol price cycles in the five largest cities. The website has up-to-date average price charts as well as buying tips, which are updated three times a week to provide guidance to consumers to help them decide when to buy petrol, and when first to shop around before buying.
Potential savings can be substantial
The ACCC says motorists among the five largest cities can make substantial savings from both filling up when petrol price cycles are at the lowest, before prices increase, and at other times from switching from retail sites with higher prices to those with lower prices.
According to ACCC calculations, on average in 2023, a motorist filling up 50 litres of regular unleaded petrol on this basis each week could have saved between around $242 in Brisbane and $740 in Perth.
Similarly, in 2023, a motorist in Sydney could have saved around $407 across the year, in Melbourne around $333, and in Adelaide around $486.
The estimated potential savings are greater in Adelaide and Perth where shorter petrol price cycles can provide more opportunities to buy when the price cycle is around a low point.
