Regional Queenslanders continue to face vastly different fuel prices depending on where they live, with RACQ’s latest Quarterly Fuel Price Report revealing the cheapest and most expensive towns to fill the tank.
Out of the regional centres monitored by RACQ, Beaudesert was cheapest for regular unleaded, averaging 193.5 cents per litre (cpl) over the September quarter, and Longreach was the most expensive at 229.2cpl.
Tully was most affordable for diesel with stations there charging an average of 233.9cpl, while Longreach also claimed the crown for most expensive diesel at 256cpl.
The report also found many regional communities were still cheaper than Brisbane, despite fuel prices rising sharply across the State and having less market competition.
RACQ’s Principal Economic and Affordability Specialist Dr Ian Jeffreys said the soaring prices were largely driven by the fuel excise returning, ongoing global conflicts and an eyewatering surge in refinery margins*.
“Last year, fuel refineries were charging an average margin of 1.2cpl for unleaded – in the September quarter that jumped by more than 2,300% to 29cpl,” Dr Jeffreys said.
“For diesel, last year the average refinery margin was 8cpl compared to 62.3cpl last quarter.
“Meanwhile, the amount service stations made on petrol sales fell from 11cpl in the June quarter to 3.7cpl in the September quarter.
“While big fuel companies appear to be making little profit at the bowser, it seems they are making up for it further upstream at their refineries.”
This has prompted RACQ to urge governments to consider reducing our dependence on imported unleaded and diesel.
“Electrification and biofuel use are the quickest ways to improve fuel security and reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels,” Dr Jeffreys said.
“We can’t just rely on electrification, especially in regional Queensland where there are large distances between towns. That’s why biofuels will be particularly important.
“This will also support our economy because electricity and biofuels are already locally produced across regional Queensland – we just need to ramp that up.”
Read RACQ’s full Quarterly Fuel Price Report here.
Extracted in full from: https://www.racq.com.au/news/motoring/queenslands-cheapest-and-most-expensive-regions-for-fuel
