Fuel Prices in Adelaide

[North to South]

Hello,

I’ve been in Adelaide about six weeks and am so confused why the petrol prices jump/fall so much by the day.  I’ve seen prices at 1.59 then  1.19 at the same garage within a couple of days , sometimes the next day.  Ive also seen garages with 0.30 per litre difference at garages just 100 meters apart.  I know crude prices fluctuate as does the dollar, but I’ve never seen such swings in retail prices like this and wondered what causes this?  It has taught me not to fill up until I really need it, or the price is low.  Is this just unique to SA or is it Australia wide as I don’t recall seeing this in other states over the past 15 years of visits to Australia.

Appreciate any views.

 

[Freemantle]

21 minutes ago, North to South said:

Hello,

I’ve been in Adelaide about six weeks and am so confused why the petrol prices jump/fall so much by the day.  I’ve seen prices at 1.59 then  1.19 at the same garage within a couple of days , sometimes the next day.  Ive also seen garages with 0.30 per litre difference at garages just 100 meters apart.  I know crude prices fluctuate as does the dollar, but I’ve never seen such swings in retail prices like this and wondered what causes this?  It has taught me not to fill up until I really need it, or the price is low.  Is this just unique to SA or is it Australia wide as I don’t recall seeing this in other states over the past 15 years of visits to Australia.

Appreciate any views.

 

https://www.raa.com.au/en/motor/safety-and-advice/fuel...https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/petrol-diesel-lpg/petrol-price-cycles. In many states they have a preferable  cheaper day to fuel up.. Public holidays and weekends can be more expensive.https://petrolspy.com.au/map/latlng/-34.92862119999999/138.5999594.....https://www.cbs.sa.gov.au/news/real-time-petrol-pricing

Edited March 9, 2021 by Freemantle
addition

[Bulya]

21 minutes ago, North to South said:

Hello,

I’ve been in Adelaide about six weeks and am so confused why the petrol prices jump/fall so much by the day.  I’ve seen prices at 1.59 then  1.19 at the same garage within a couple of days , sometimes the next day.  Ive also seen garages with 0.30 per litre difference at garages just 100 meters apart.  I know crude prices fluctuate as does the dollar, but I’ve never seen such swings in retail prices like this and wondered what causes this?  It has taught me not to fill up until I really need it, or the price is low.  Is this just unique to SA or is it Australia wide as I don’t recall seeing this in other states over the past 15 years of visits to Australia.

Appreciate any views.

 

Australia wide.  Just go to Costco and forget the runaround 

[rammygirl]

Tell me about it. It once jumped 5 cents between me pulling up and lifting the bowser!

I start checking when I have half a tank left and fill when it is cheap. LeVe it till empty and you have no choice. It can vary by 60 cents. Litre 

Edited March 9, 2021 by rammygirl

[Rallyman]

That’s Australia for you 

no real explanation. 
some of radio stations tell you where the cheap fuel is , ok if passing or in area but not worth it if you have to go out your way imho

Edited March 9, 2021 by Rallyman

[welljock]

15 hours ago, Bulya said:

Australia wide.  Just go to Costco and forget the runaround 

Costco is a 100km round trip for me (plus $60 a year membership), so it would cost 2 hours of my week plus approx 10 litres of fuel - so not very practical advise for most people

[Paul1Perth]

8 hours ago, Rallyman said:

That’s Australia for you 

no real explanation. 
some of radio stations tell you where the cheap fuel is , ok if passing or in area but not worth it if you have to go out your way imho

They have fuelwatch app and report prices in different areas on the news every day here. I think Tuesdays is the cheap fuel day for some reason. Bit wierd but at least you can pick a day when it's the cheapest. A tank full lasts about a month, not too hard to pick a cheap day.

[Bulya]

7 hours ago, welljock said:

Costco is a 100km round trip for me (plus $60 a year membership), so it would cost 2 hours of my week plus approx 10 litres of fuel - so not very practical advise for most people

Long time since I was a Croweater.  50kms each way is a little too far.

[Lavers]

The fuel price runs on a 2 week cycle, when I came last Aug the fuel ranged from 98c - $1.20 now it ranges from $1.19 - $1.50.

So maybe by weekend it will jump to the higher price,then it will fall over the following 2 weeks before jumping up again.

Use a website called petrolspy.com it it shows prices for all service stations in your area

[Dusty Plains]

Generally, petrol in the UK is about A$2.30 per litre or thereabouts, yet I can purchase fuel in Sydney for as low as A$1.14, Basically half price. 

[NickyNook]

Petrol prices will always be sky-high in the week prior to Easter. You can count on it as they know people try to get away for the long weekend.

So make sure you fill up the week before because the price will not fall until Easter is over. 

Edited March 10, 2021 by NickyNook

[Whey aye]

Fuel cycles happen in the US,Germany and various other countries.They are great.

Depends how you want to look at it,rises from $1 to $1.40,the world is a terrible place.

 

Drops from $1.40 down to $1,greatest thing since sliced bread,depends on what you want to see.

There is no money in petrol,unless you are the govt,work on 50 cents a litre excise and GST.

Read a company annual report Ampol ( previously Caltex).

 

I don't have the annual report to hand ( I'm a shareholder) but from memory.

Revenue $20 B.

Replacement cost of product $14B ( RCOP)

Excise paid to govt $5B

Profit S1B.

Tax $300 million.

 

From memory Caltex make around 2.5 cents per litre.The petrol station makes around 8 to 10 cents per litre.A pure volume game.

The work goes into currency control ( spot,futures and fixed) and price control  for product ( spot future and fixed) 

 

If you think about it when they are selling a large volume of fuel say 15 billion litres,then 1 cent per litre is a huge difference.

 

 

 

[Whey aye]

Got one ,Page 77 is a quick income statement.You can read annual reports on line.

Revenue $22.3 Billion

Cost of goods sold $20.4 B.

Gross profit $1.9 B, take off various costs the largest one being selling and distribution { $1.2 B) 

Profit before tax $521.7 million.

Tax$138 million 

Numbers are rounded so they will not add up.

They paid $5.8 B in tax to the govt ( included in cost of goods sold)and sold 21.1 billion litres of fuel,a big drop from the previous  year due to lockdown.

If you fancy buying shares in them ( ADL or ALD I forget which,it was much easier before they had to change their name,Caltex was CTX),then I can give you a 25 year price history,the length of time I have held them.

1997 ish $3 a share perhaps $3.50.

Crashed down to around 90 cents in 2001 as they had to spend a fortune on modernising refineries to take sulphur out of diesel,and other things.They never made a profit for around 5 years,so no dividends .Usual ups and downs in prices until they are around $28 a share now,I never look.

 

As in all Australian companies the largest shareholders are pension and super funds,the top twenty own 86.64% of the shares.

 

Across the 25 years ish I've probably been paid out around $12 to $15 per share in dividends.Most of the time fully franked .

[Whey aye]

ALD. ASX just had a quick look.$24.52 a share .I must have last looked at them last November when they were around $29.Drop in profits means drop in share prices 

Ah well,easy come,easy go.

[Wanderer Returns]

On 09/03/2021 at 18:34, North to South said:

Hello,

I’ve been in Adelaide about six weeks and am so confused why the petrol prices jump/fall so much by the day.  I’ve seen prices at 1.59 then  1.19 at the same garage within a couple of days , sometimes the next day.  Ive also seen garages with 0.30 per litre difference at garages just 100 meters apart.  I know crude prices fluctuate as does the dollar, but I’ve never seen such swings in retail prices like this and wondered what causes this?  It has taught me not to fill up until I really need it, or the price is low.  Is this just unique to SA or is it Australia wide as I don’t recall seeing this in other states over the past 15 years of visits to Australia.

Appreciate any views.

We put up with the same nonsense here in S E Queensland. There are quite a few apps though that show you where the cheapest places are to fill up. I work most of the week in Brisbane and when I drove back to the Sunny Coast last weekend, it was 45c cheaper, so I stuck 10 gallons in and saved over 20 bucks!  

[Wanderer Returns]

On 10/03/2021 at 19:00, Dusty Plains said:

Generally, petrol in the UK is about A$2.30 per litre or thereabouts, yet I can purchase fuel in Sydney for as low as A$1.14, Basically half price. 

Half the price, but most of us drive three times the distance!

[Paul1Perth]

On 10/03/2021 at 17:00, Dusty Plains said:

Generally, petrol in the UK is about A$2.30 per litre or thereabouts, yet I can purchase fuel in Sydney for as low as A$1.14, Basically half price. 

That's more to do with the tax burden in each country rather than the oil price. Diesel here is usually a bit cheaper than petrol and doesn't fluctuate in price so much. 

If people were really concerned they can get a gas conversion, like a lot of taxis. Gas is much cheaper.

[Parley]

Unleaded is currently $1.69 in Melbourne. I think that is the highest I have ever seen it in Melbourne. 

[Bulya]

1 minute ago, Parley said:

Unleaded is currently $1.69 in Melbourne. I think that is the highest I have ever seen it in Melbourne. 

$1.43 for 98 at Costco. 

[Paul1Perth]

25 minutes ago, Wanderer Returns said:

Half the price, but most of us drive three times the distance!

I would have driven just as far to work in the UK as I did here. Now I'm retired I don't do many km's at all, a tank can last a month. Don't know about "most" people. You spend a lot more time in the UK being stuck in jams that's for sure and the cost of parking is horrendous.

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Wanderer Returns said:

Half the price, but most of us drive three times the distance!

Once again it depends where you live.   We're always talking about how Australians are accustomed to traveling huge distances compared to the UK, but  I think things have changed.

Most Australians are big-city dwellers.   People who live in Sydney and Melbourne will do a very long drive when on holiday, but the rest of the time?  Not.  They'll barely travel from one side of the city to the other. 

[Bulya]

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

Once again it depends where you live.   We're always talking about how Australians are accustomed to traveling huge distances compared to the UK, but  I think things have changed.

Most Australians are big-city dwellers.   People who live in Sydney and Melbourne will do a very long drive when on holiday, but the rest of the time?  Not.  They'll barely travel from one side of the city to the other. 

Agree to disagree on that one.

[rammygirl]

Petrol spy is only as good as the last reported prices. There is a new app now by the RAA. You don’t have to be a member but petroleum’s stations are required to update the prices direct to it within half an hour. Seems to work hubby checked as he needed fuel and a nearby Caltex was 60 cents a litre cheaper than in the city so he diverted to fill up. Both our cars need 95 min. Makes a big difference on a full tank. 

My RAA now gives real time fuel prices

[Lavers]

2 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Once again it depends where you live.   We're always talking about how Australians are accustomed to traveling huge distances compared to the UK, but  I think things have changed.

Most Australians are big-city dwellers.   People who live in Sydney and Melbourne will do a very long drive when on holiday, but the rest of the time?  Not.  They'll barely travel from one side of the city to the other. 

Too true, whenever we go for a day out at weekend and drive more than an hour away, our neighbours think we are mad.

All too use to staying local.

[Wanderer Returns]

4 hours ago, Paul1Perth said:

I would have driven just as far to work in the UK as I did here. Now I'm retired I don't do many km's at all, a tank can last a month. Don't know about "most" people. You spend a lot more time in the UK being stuck in jams that's for sure and the cost of parking is horrendous.

 

3 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Once again it depends where you live.   We're always talking about how Australians are accustomed to traveling huge distances compared to the UK, but  I think things have changed.

Most Australians are big-city dwellers.   People who live in Sydney and Melbourne will do a very long drive when on holiday, but the rest of the time?  Not.  They'll barely travel from one side of the city to the other. 

I admit that was a sweeping generalisation, although I think that many people who use a motor vehicle to commute drive further than they would in the UK because the driving here is more bearable. I'm currently driving 52 miles each way from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane, although I certainly have no intention doing that long-term situation!