How YOU can save more than $340 a year in petrol by boycotting major oil company service stations – with Australia’s most expensive chain revealed
- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission analysed petrol prices
- It found Coles Express outlets selling Shell fuel were Australia’s most expensive
- Motorists in Sydney stood to save $343 a year by switching to Speedway petrol
- Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide drivers can also save with independents
Australian motorists could save more than $340 a year in petrol simply by boycotting major oil company service stations.
An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission analysis showed that switching to independent retailers could yield big savings in the major state capital cities.
In Sydney, drivers stood to save $343 annually by shunning Coles Express-branded Shell outlets and instead choosing an independent retailer like Speedway.
Australian motorists could save more than $340 a year in petrol simply by boycotting major oil company service stations (stock image)
The ACCC found Coles Express petrol prices in Australia’s biggest city last year were 12 per cent more expensive on average than the mean annual price for petrol in Sydney.
Coles Express was also found the be the most expensive petrol outlet in almost every other major city.
By comparison, Speedway service stations in Sydney offered prices that were four per cent cheaper.
Motorists who filled up at Speedway instead of Coles Express also stood to save 13.2 cents a litre every time they filled up in 2018, the ACCC report released on Thursday said.
The competition regulator also examined how motorists in the other major capital cities could save hundreds of dollars by switching from the highest-priced seller of petrol to the cheapest.
By doing this, drivers could save $229 a year in Brisbane, $211 in Perth, $159 in Adelaide and $148 in Melbourne.
In Sydney, drivers stood to save $343 annually by shunning Coles Express-branded Shell outlets and instead choosing an independent retailer like Speedway (like the one pictured)
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found Coles Express-brand Shell service stations were the most expensive in the major capital cities
While Speedway was the cheapest in Sydney, United Petroleum offered the lowest prices in Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Hobart.
Liberty was the cheapest in Adelaide, Vibe was the least expensive in Perth while FuelXpress had the best prices in Darwin.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the report clearly showed motorists could save money by choosing an independent petrol retailer.
‘The data reveals that independent chains were the lowest priced retailers in all eight cities, while Coles Express was the highest priced retailer in almost all cities,’ he said.
‘Motorists that always filled up at these independent chains would have come out ahead when it comes to petrol.’
Coles Express had higher than average prices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra between January and May this year.
Last week, average national unleaded prices fell by 6.6 cents a litre to 146.1 cents a litre, marking the biggest weekly drop in more than nine months, Australian Institute of Petroleum data showed.
CommSec chief economist Craig James said bowser prices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane were approaching the low point in the discounting cycle.
Motorists in Sydney who filled up at Speedway instead of Coles Express also stood to save 13.2 cents a litre every time they filled up in 2018, the ACCC report released on Thursday said