Fuel prices November 2017

The following information was sourced from the Australian Institute of Petroleum (AIP) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Updates to retail fuel price source data for November 2017 incorporates prices across the Territory’s regional areas, with prices published for Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. This may contribute to increases in the Territory’s average price, compared to historical data.

Gross indicative retail differences (GIRDs) are the average retail price less the published terminal gate prices and are used as an indication of gross retail margins.

Unleaded petrol

The average retail price of unleaded petrol (ULP) across the Territory was 151.8 cents per litre (cpl), reflecting a monthly increase of 16.5 cpl and an increase of 23.4 cpl in annual terms (Chart 1). The Territory’s average retail ULP price was 14.4 cpl higher than the national average of 137.4 cpl.

The average retail price of ULP in Darwin was 144.4 cpl, 11.7 cpl higher than the previous month and 23.4 cpl higher than the previous year. Darwin recorded the highest retail price of all capital cities, (Chart 2).

The monthly average terminal gate price (TGP) for ULP in Darwin was 127.9 cpl, an increase of 6.4 cpl compared to the previous month and 15.2 cpl above the previous year. These changes were in line with increases in the national average TGP, which was 123.7 cpl in the month.

The monthly increase in the average retail price for ULP in Darwin also partly reflects an increase in retail margins. The Darwin GIRD for ULP increased by 5.3 cpl to 16.5 cpl in November 2017 (Chart 3). This was the second highest GIRD of all capital cities, behind Brisbane. The national average GIRD for ULP remained at 13.7 cpl in the month.

ACCC fuel price monitoring

The ACCC released its Report on the Australian Petroleum Market for the September quarter 2017 on 6 November 2017. The Report can be accessed here.

The Report shows that the Darwin average ULP price was 6.0 cpl higher than the five largest capital cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth) in September quarter 2017. This was an increase of 0.8 cpl from the June quarter 2017.

Diesel

The monthly average retail price of diesel across the Territory was 151.9 cpl. This was 16.6 cpl higher compared to the previous month and 26.4 cpl higher than the same time last year (Chart 5).

The monthly average retail diesel price differential between the Territory and the national average was 11.9 cpl.

In Darwin, the monthly average retail price for diesel was 140.3 cpl, an increase of 8.4 cpl above last month and 15.4 cpl above the previous year. Darwin recorded the highest retail price of all capital cities (Chart 6). Nationally, the average price of diesel was 134.2 cpl, an increase of 4.6 cpl in the month and 11.0 cpl on annual terms.

The TGP for diesel in Darwin was 125.8 cpl, 4.8 cpl higher than the previous month and 15.3 cpl higher than the previous year.

The average Darwin GIRD for diesel was 14.6 cpl. This was the highest of all capital cities and 2.6 cpl higher than the national average of 12.0 cpl (Chart 7).

Tapis Crude Oil

The monthly average spot price of Tapis crude oil in the month was $85.20 per barrel in Australian dollar terms (Chart 4). This corresponds to an increase of 5.4 cpl in the month and 12.9 cpl through the year, in Australian dollar terms.