NSW: Retailers selling petrol for $1 'idiots': consultant
26 Nov 2008 12:53 PM
SYDNEY, Nov 26 AAP - Retailers offering petrol for as little as $1 a litre across Sydney are "idiots" who are selling themselves short, an independent fuel consultancy says.
Motorists awoke on Wednesday to the lowest real petrol prices seen at the bowsers in about three years.
The cheapest regular unleaded petrol (ULP) was found at a BP service station at Croydon Park, in Sydney's inner-west, where it was priced at 100.9 cents per litre, according to independent price tracking website motormouth.com.au.
Service stations at Fairfield, Brookvale, Beacon Hill and Frenchs Forest are selling ULP for 101.9 cents per litre.
The ethanol-blended fuel E10 can be bought for 98.7 cents in Sydney's western suburbs.
However, according to the shell.com website, the average price of unleaded at the bowser should be closer to 110.4 cents per litre after owners bought it wholesale for 102.14 on Tuesday.
The E10 blend was bought for 99.64 cents per litre on Tuesday, the website shows.
The only reason retailers would sell petrol for below wholesale on Wednesday was to get customers through the door - either that or they were "idiots", Fueltrac spokesman Geoff Trotter said.
Fueltrac is an independent consultancy which monitors fuel services in Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Trotter said a drop in the international price of unleaded had caused a price downturn but warned Sydneysiders not to get used to such unsustainable prices.
"For whatever reason they've decided to sell fuel for less than they're paying for it," Mr Trotter said.
"He's an idiot, in the sense of he's selling the fuel for less than he's paying for it.
"That's a decision that he's made. But unless there's 10,000 other idiots in Sydney they won't be selling it at that price, will they? They'd all go broke."
The genuine drop in prices follows a stunt last month when a dozen independent petrol stations slashed 40 cents off the fuel price, selling it for 94.9 cents to protest against what they said were anti-competitive practices by the oil giants.
Blacktown BP service station owner Marie El-Khoury, who led the campaign, said she did not know why people were still under-pricing, but was happy that the protest seemed to have had some influence on wholesale prices.
"When we started the campaign, within a week the wholesale dropped by 20 cents and kept on dropping," she said.
"It is now reflecting the barrel price. I hope and I believe that our campaign had an influence in that."
Ms El-Khoury said she was now selling their "main" unleaded, the E10 blend, for 99.7 cents per litre.
She predicted there would be further price drops at the bowser before Christmas.
