Petrol prices drop by up to 20c as government removes fuel tax – how to find the cheapest petrol 

Petrol prices are being slashed across Australian after the government cut the fuel excise tax in half in Tuesday night’s federal Budget.

From 12.01am, the fuel excise was cut from 44.2 cents per litre to 22.1 cents per litre. 

It has been cut on both petrol and diesel and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will be used to monitor retail prices to ensure the savings are passed on to motorists. 

But while many service stations immediately cut their prices, some have not, risking anger not only from the ACCC and the government, but also from their customers. 

There is a variance of up to 42c per litre from the cheapest to the dearest prices in some regions.  

According to the NSW government’s Fuel Check website, the average price in the state is now 199.7 per litre of E10.

In Sydney, the cheapest petrol at the moment is at Coles Express in Strathfield South, where it costs 177.9. 

The most expensive is at BP in Rose Bay, where it is a whopping 219.9 – a massive 42c per litre more.  

Oil prices had surged to over $2.20 a litre in Australia amid soaring global inflation pressure and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.   

The measure will run for exactly six months, ending at 11.59pm on September 28. 

 Oil prices had surged to over $2.20 a litre in Australia amid soaring global inflation pressure and the Russian invasion of Ukraine

As fighting continues in the Ukraine with Western powers brining sanctions against Russian oil producers, the possibility remains that prices could soar even higher amid the supply shortage. 

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury told Daily Mail Australia he has some concerns about the move, warning oil companies are under no obligation to lower their prices at the pump.

‘We don’t pay the excise to the government,’ he said. ‘We pay it to the service station and then the service station passes the money onto the government.’ 

‘What is concerning the NRMA is that the oil companies may just put their prices up and then whatever money would have gone to excise will just go to extra profits.’ 

He said, although the government has the ability to ease pressure by cutting the excise tax, they have no power to control rising global oil prices.  

‘Oil prices are always volatile but now they are at highs we’ve never seen before and it’s very possible we could see another spike,’ Mr Khoury said.  

‘We obviously want to see relief at the bowser but our concern with using the excise was to provide a consistent stream of revenue from motorists to fund the roads, it was not designed to be a lever for adjusting to volatile oil prices.

‘If you look at the UK last week, they cut their excise to bring down the cost at the pump but then oil prices surged and the tax cuts just got eaten up.’ 

Josh Frydenberg confirmed the ‘temporary and targeted’ measure would come into effect at 12.01am on Wednesday (pictured, a woman filling her car in Sydney)

Mr Frydenberg said if you’re a tradie busy getting about a daily job, you are seeing the higher price for petrol and what it’s doing to your take-home pay. Pictured: Sydney worker

The cuts may take a ‘few days’ to filter through as petrol stations around the country ‘clear the volume that’s in the ground’.  

‘For some service stations they’ll get daily deliveries, for others it’s two or three days,’ Australasian Convenience Petroleum Marketers spokesman Mark McKenzie told 3AW.

‘Clearly we can’t control the global oil market so we don’t know whether that sort of dynamic will actually continue to push prices up.’ 

More to come…