Australians are being ‘ripped off’ at the bowser and should be paying far less for petrol as oil prices plummet due to the deadly coronavirus, expert claims
- Fuel costs across Melbourne and Sydney have soared despite oil prices dropping
- Melbourne selling $1.73 a litre for Unleaded while Sydney sits at $1.54 a litre
- Chief economist said coronavirus should have seen prices drop to $1.30 a litre
- NRMA Peter Khoury encouraged motorists to take advantage of the fuel cycle
Drivers across Australia should be paying around $1.30 a litre for fuel following the outbreak of the coronavirus, an expert has claimed.
Dr Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital, described the price hike as a ‘rip off’ and that they should be sitting at at least 40c cheaper.
Melbourne has fuel prices at $1.73 a litre for unleaded while prices in Sydney and Brisbane sit at $1.54 a litre.
Dr Oliver said there was ‘no logical reason’ for the price hike and fuel should cost around $1.30 a litre.
‘It’s a bit of a rip-off, the way the price cycles up and down. I struggle to explain it,’ he told 3AW.
Dr Oliver said there was ‘no logical reason’ for the price hike and fuel should be cost around $1.30 a litre (stock)
Melbourne is currently enduring fuel prices at $1.73 a litre for Unleaded (stock image)
‘If you go back a couple of weeks in Melbourne it looks like the average price was around $1.30, and then, of course, the last couple of weeks it pushed up towards that $1.70 mark.
‘There’s no logical reason why we pushed up at a time when the coronavirus was depressing global demand for oil and actually pushing oil, and presumably petrol, prices down.’
Fuel prices around the world have all plummeted following the drop in fuel and oil prices, by Dr Oliver said Australia was going backwards.
‘You look at the traffic jam figures in China, they’ve virtually disappeared…that means a huge reduction in demand for oil globally and that affects us in Australia, and that should show up as lower petrol prices, but we haven’t really seen that.’
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury told Daily Mail Australia said it’s always important to take into consideration the fuel cycles which the country operates on.
‘We’re expecting the prices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to drop to below $1.30 a litre,’ he said.
‘Just a few days ago, Adelaide had the cheapest petrol prices of $1.22 a litre and we’re hoping the other major cities could reach that.’
He suggested to motorists to fill up at the bottom of the cycle and ‘use that to their advantage’ before fuel prices soar for a few days (stock)
Mr Khoury concurred with Dr Oliver saying the coronavirus has affected one of the world’s biggest markets which in turn was controlling fuel prices.
‘Whole cities in china that are in shut down mode,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘It’s impacting demand and world prices, but we should see prices drop soon in the cycle.’
He suggested to motorists to fill up at the bottom of the cycle and ‘use that to their advantage’ before fuel prices soar for a few days.