Petrol prices have closely followed international trends over the past 12 months, suggesting Australians are not being ripped off at the bowser, a new report has found. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Monday released the findings of its first annual report into unleaded petrol prices.
Australian petrol prices were still relatively low compared to international prices, the report found. The report has enabled the ACCC to further explore factors influencing petrol prices, and the industry’s profits, costs and revenue, after releasing recommendations from its 2007 petrol price inquiry.
Unleaded petrol prices closely followed the price of Singapore Mogas 95, which is used as the regional benchmark for prices, the ACCC said.Â
“Movements in Australian petrol prices are overwhelmingly determined by international petrol prices,” ACCC commissioner Joe Dimasi said in a statement. ”Between mid-July and mid-December retail prices had fallen by at least as much as Mogas prices had fallen.”
However, between December 2007 and October 2008 petrol prices did deviate from the international price for a short period. The ACCC found the deviations were due to “supply issues” in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, an increase in international freight costs, volatility in the Singapore Mogas 95 index and fluctuations in the value of the Australian dollar.
City and country petrol prices were also examined, with prices in country towns and the three smaller capital cities six to seven cents a litre higher than the five largest metropolitan cities. Pricing differences were due to a combination of factors including higher transport costs, lower volumes and less competition in the smaller centres. The report also confirmed findings from the 2007 petrol inquiry which found the petrol industry was concentrated at the refining and wholesale levels.
New competitors in the market faced significant barriers from current arrangements by the oil companies and the “low potential” for large-scale independent importing. But despite limits at the wholesale level, Australian petrol prices were still relatively low compared to international prices. During the year, petrol retailers had also seen substantial cost increases primarily reflecting crude oil costs and wholesale petrol costs while industry profitability had not increased despite petrol price increases. Profitability levels more generally didn’t appear to be higher in comparison to other industries. The federal government has asked the ACCC to produce two more annual reports into petrol prices within the next two years.
Firstly, according to Subaru testing, the new WRX does the 0-100kmh sprint in 5.31 seconds compared to the MY08 which did it in 5.8 seconds. Our testing didn’t reveal the same numbers, but we were being a quite sympathetic to the driveline and clutch of the loan car that we had, yet still happily posted sub 6 sec times. The car is most certainly quicker than the outgoing model, and Subaru’s testing times are believable if you have less mechanical sympathy than we did.
The WRX now runs the larger turbocharger from the STI, and boost has been increased from 11psi to 13psi. It definitely gives more power, but low range is slightly less explosive than beforehand due to the larger turbo. However, mid range power is more usuable, so no complaints here. The new turbo is combined with a revised exhaust system providing a 30 per cent reduction in gas flow restriction, to match the turbo performance and increase engine power.
Hardened materials are used for the main shaft and first driven gear, while operation of the clutch slave cylinder now incorporates an orifice valve to protect the drivetrain during rapid clutch engagement.
For the first time, the car is available with the options of leather with sunroof, satellite navigation or the combination of leather, sunroof and SatNav. A 60/40 split/fold rear seat optimizes cargo carrying options.
The Shell service station at Paget was selling unleaded fuel for 98 cents a litre yesterday, while Mobil in Sydney Street had unleaded at 99.7c.