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This was published 7 years ago
Petrol prices on Sydney's northern beaches the most expensive in Australia
By Lucy Cormack
Drivers on Sydney's northern beaches suffered the most at the bowser over the past three months, paying the highest petrol prices among the nation's cities at 118.4 cents per litre.
Prices in Perth's Claremont and Cottesloe were the second most expensive at 118.2 cents per litre.
Ivanhoe and Greensborough in Melbourne were that city's most expensive suburbs, with prices at 115.5 cents per litre. In Brisbane it was South Brisbane at 116.7 cents.
Canberra was not included in the report data.
Unleaded petrol prices are continuing to fall across Australia, as each city reaches its price cycle peak or a downward turn.Credit: Damian Shaw
The figures, sourced from Motormouth Pty Ltd and analysed by comparison website comparethemarket.com.au, revealed unleaded petrol prices were continuing to fall across Australia, as each city reaches the its price cycle peak or a downward turn.
"Adelaide is currently sitting at the top of its cycle, so we expect prices to drop in the next few days in the lead-up to the long weekend," said Abigail Koch, spokesperson at comparethemarket.com.au.
"Brisbane and Melbourne are in similar boats where both cities have already seen prices dropping from their peak at the beginning of September, and this trend will continue over the next week too."
Ms Koch said Sydney's price cycle appeared to be shortening, meaning prices were likely to fall over the long weekend and into the first week of October.
However, she recommended that motorists in Perth "should fill up for the week ahead" when prices are at their cheapest on Monday, as Perth's predictable seven-day price cycle will see them jump again on Tuesday.
Based on the quarterly figures, the capital city suburbs with the best deals were Warwick in Perth (114.4 cents per litre), Bankstown in Sydney (112.6 cents), Frankston and Cranbourne in Melbourne (111.7 cents) and Bayside in Brisbane (113.8 cents).
"There is a general downward movement in the price cycle across all cities, which is welcome news for Aussie motorists wanting to fill up for any long weekend road trips," Ms Koch said.
But NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury warned Sydney motorists to use caution before relying on the quarterly figures and filling up ahead of the long weekend.
"Sydney for example is still largely at the high point of its cycle and we won't see prices at the low point of the cycle for at least a week and a half."
Mr Khoury said motorists should take care before following any message that "prices were falling into the long weekend".
"It's going to be a very slow fall in comparison to what we will see next week. Our message to Sydney motorists is, if you're going away, have a look at where you are going because some of the regional centres are markedly cheaper than the city itself."
He encouraged motorists to research pricing in the capital cities where better deals could be found, "like at BP in Silverwater where prices are currently 99.9 cents, and other independents scattered across Sydney, where prices are just over the dollar mark, but you have to look to find it".
A consumer protection spokesperson from the Western Australia Department of Commerce disputed the Motormouth data for Western Australia.
He said data from FuelWatch for the last quarter showed 13 suburbs more expensive than Claremont, 31 more expensive than Cottesloe, including North Fremantle (127 cents per litre) and Mundijong (124.1 cents), and 34 cheaper than Warwick, including Duncraig (103.4 cents) and Carlisle (110.9 cents),
Update: A spokesperson for Motormouth said that were differences in the boundaries used to define areas of Western Australia as well as the time period covered, accounting for some discrepancies in the averages of their data and that of the Department of Commerce.