Petrol prices have hit a 13-year high in the Hunter Valley.
It’s thanks to the perfect storm of factors, there’s a high demand for global petrol and the price at the terminal gate is quite high, locals coming out of lockdown has also increased the demand for petrol across the region.
John Macgowan from the NRMA said the highest petrol in NSW can be found in the Hunter.
“These are the highest prices we’ve seen in the Hunter Valley for 13 years. Currently Maitland has the most expensive average petrol price in the state at 180.9, Singleton and Newcastle aren’t far behind, these are very high prices for the region,” he said.
“It’s kind of the perfect storm right now because we’re seeing very high demand for global petrol, we’re seeing high prices at the terminal gate, the European winter means higher prices for oil generally and as we’re coming out of lockdown with our elevated demand, there’s a whole heap of factors that are contributing the pushing the price up.”
While the price at the bowser has been consistently high in the Hunter and other regional areas, it’s a different story in Sydney.
“Obviously in Sydney where we still have record prices right now, there’s a price cycle where prices tend to go up and down a bit more reliably but once you get out of Sydney the petrol stations are really at the mercy of what the terminal gate price is for petrol and that is extremely high right now as supply is being strangled and supply is going up,” said John.
“Out of the 130 odd petrol stations in the Newcastle area you’re going to really struggle to find anything below 160 right now so the spread isn’t even really that good.”
“Sometimes we find that even though the average price is quite high you can still find some bargains, it is elevated everywhere so the best advice we can give is to get on the Fuel Watch app or the NRMA app and try and find a bargain around you,” he said.
“Thankfully we’re now out of the worst of lockdown and we can get out on the road and find some bargains.”