Up to 48 per cent of ACT drivers may be crossing the border to buy their fuel at cheaper prices in NSW, as new figures suggest Canberra’s biggest fuel retailer is charging a premium on petrol.
A survey of 1158 NRMA members in the territory also showed some 94 per cent have backed an independent fuel price monitoring scheme similar to that operating across the border.
The survey, to be published today, shows 48 per cent of respondents had crossed the border for cheaper fuel, and up to 20 per cent always did.
It also showed 67 per cent backed the ACT government doing more to attract independent service stations to the city, which has the lowest rate of independent or minor operators, at nine per cent.
Answers to questions on notice, posed in a March ACT Legislative Assembly inquiry into fuel pricing by monitoring group Informed Sources, also found Coles Express was charging an extra two cents a litre more than other local retailers.
But the extra two cents came before other costs unique to the ACT were taken into account – costs borne by all retailers – while the entrance of more independents into other markets had not always led to lower retail prices.
Coles Express owns 15 of the 58 service stations operating in the territory, or 26 per cent; followed by 10 each for Woolworths (Caltex-branded) and Caltex (owned and operated); at 17 per cent each.
While Coles Express dominates the market, a new deal that started in March with supplier Viva Energy could see retail prices cut nationwide at those outlets. It would see Viva set the retail price and pay Coles a premium once sales volume levels were met, with Coles running the related food and drink businesses, which could cut prices at the bowser.
Industry and regulators contend the cost of fuel in the ACT was affected by the distance from ports, local planning policies and other business overheads, and fewer “convenience” sales.
The territory price also fluctuated less than that in state capital cities, though that, the competition commission has found, was not unique among regional markets.
But NRMA director and former Labor senator Kate Lundy said consumers would be looking to the Assembly inquiry for outcomes to address the price.
Coles did not respond to a request for comment.
Extracted from Canberra Times