Fill up NOW: Urgent warning issued to Aussies that fuel prices will skyrocket TONIGHT – Here’s what you’ll pay just to fill up
- The price of gasoline will go up from 23:59 on Wednesday night when the tax relief stops
- NRMA warns Australians are already paying too much for fuel at Bowser
- It comes as the price of fuel is likely to hit more than $2 a liter in the coming week.
Australians are being warned that petrol prices at the pump will soar further despite falling global oil prices, a leading auto group warns.
The NRMA has called on fuel companies to cut prices as regular unleaded gasoline topped an average of $1.90 a liter in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane this week.
The government fuel tax cut ends at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, which will push prices up another 25 cents a liter just in time for the October long weekend.
“Despite falling world prices and the excise tax on fuel that has yet to be reinstated, prices are approaching $2 a liter, meaning motorists are paying much more for fuel than they they should,” said Peter Khoury, a spokesman for the NRMA.
Fuel prices in major cities could rise to more than $2 a liter in the next week (file image)
Once the increase in excise taxes on fuel takes effect, drivers could be paying almost the same amount at the pump as they did earlier this year, when prices soared after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The NRMA said it was “concerned” about a gap of 42 cents a liter between wholesale and retail petrol prices in Sydney, the highest margin since May 2020.
“Prices today are already unacceptably high and we need to see a correction immediately,” Khoury said.
He noted that the prices contrast sharply with the global trend of falling oil prices after a high point earlier this year, amid sanctions on Russian oil.
“It was $160 a barrel and now it’s down $60 in a couple of months to $100 a barrel.”
‘Australians are already struggling with cost of living pressures. Hopefully more restraint will be shown (by retailers) after the re-introduction of the excise duty than what we have seen this week.”
The previous Morrison government halved the tax on fuel from 44.2c to 22.1ca-litre in March for six months as prices soared, but the Labor government of new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese refused to extend relief.
Khoury said GST would add another 3 cents a liter to the cost, which would push prices back up 25 cents a liter at Bowser.
“The excise tax is added at the wholesale level, so we won’t see an increase right away, retailers need to buy more shares and pass the increase on to customers,” Khoury said.
“It depends on how quickly the retailers sell what they have, which could be a few days or up to two weeks.
“Urban areas will consume your product faster and regional areas will follow.”
Australians will pay more at the pump in October when the temporary fuel tax cut ends (file image)
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said last week there was “no reason” for gas stations to “raise their prices” the same night excise taxes were raised again.
He pointed to 700 million liters of fuel stored across the country that were bought at the lowest price.
“Prices don’t need to go up immediately,” said Dr. Chalmers.
“We don’t want petrol stations to treat Australians like cups, so we’re watching this closely.”
Dr. Chalmers promised that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would watch for price increases.
“The reason we have maximized the role of the ACCC in all of this is that we want to make sure there is no dubious behaviour,” he said.
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers (pictured) said last week that there were 700 million liters of fuel in storage at the cheapest price, so retailers shouldn’t “raise” their prices too quickly.
“We have been working closely with servos and suppliers to understand that there are hundreds of millions of liters of fuel underground in tanks that were bought at the lowest price.”
“So the ACCC and the government are hoping that the price of gasoline won’t shoot up Wednesday night by the full 23 cents if normal market pressures are in place.”
He added that it was a “difficult decision” not to extend fuel tax relief, but that the government was focused on “responsible budgeting.”
Some economists criticized the fuel tax relief when it was introduced by former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in the March pre-election budget, citing the huge loss of revenue, estimated at $3 billion by the Treasury.
