Bowser pain stays south
TOWNSVILLE residents can breathe a sigh of relief as motorists will not be slugged with massive price hikes being experienced in the southeast, the state’s peak motoring body says.
Motorists in the state’s capital were paying more for fuel than any other city yesterday as prices rose to a near-record 177.9 cents a litre.
The skyrocketing prices in Brisbane are expected to worsen.
Recent drone strikes in Saudi Arabia are being blamed for the increase, as well as international crude oil prices.
However, RACQ spokeswoman Renee Smith said Townsville would avoid the petrol price pain being felt by our southern counterparts.
“North Queensland residents will be relieved to know they shouldn’t see the massive price hikes currently being experienced in Brisbane,” she said. “While we have seen prices rise in Townsville in the past week, we’re hopeful these increases have now finished.
“Townsville doesn’t have a petrol price cycle, as Brisbane does, so they don’t see the fluctuation between high and low prices over several weeks.”
Ms Smith said Brisbane motorists were being “ripped off” with 10 per cent of retailers hiking prices above 170 cents a litre, taking advantage of motorists in the wake of the Saudi drone strike.
In Townsville the latest average unleaded price is 142.4 cents a litre.
“A handful of sites in Townsville are selling in the high dollar-forties,” Ms Smith said.
She said at the cheap end of the market, five retail sites were selling fuel for 140 cents a litre or less, which was 10 per cent of the market.
Shell Belgian Gardens managing director Soren Nannestad said there had been a price war between fuel retailers in Townsville over the past two months.
Mr Nannestad, an independent service station owner, said he expected prices to rise slightly but nothing as high as the southeast.
“For them to jump 30 or 40 cents a litre, I mean that’s just absolutely ridiculous,” he said.
Ms Smith said drivers should use price comparison services like the RACQ Fair Fuel Finder to find the best deals.