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A three-week stabilisation of Melbourne petrol prices is proof
the weekly price cycle is a construct of the petrol industry, the
petrol commissioner for the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission, Pat Walker, said.
Charts for Sydney, produced by the
commission, showed a similar trend - with price variations reducing
last week and prices levelling off since last Sunday, he said.
Petrol prices in Sydney and Melbourne appear to have stabilised
after criticism of one of the biggest retailers, Coles, by the
Federal Government's petrol commissioner three weeks ago. "The price cycle is a creature of the petrol industry," Mr
Walker said. "The ACCC found it was an enigma - even people in the
industry have trouble explaining it or why it occurs. It's just a
marketing strategy that they employ."
The price of petrol tends to reach a low on Tuesday and a peak
on Thursday, usually within a window of 10 cents, although Mr
Walker said those peaks and troughs did not relate to international
prices and existed only in Australian capital cities.
Petrol prices in Melbourne have been falling since late last
month, although there was a minor spike on May 7. The same day, the
consumer commission released a statement accusing Coles Express of
leading the market in fuel price rises. The market moved again a
week later, but has been static since.
"Coles Express, and neither anyone else, have led the price
hike," Mr Walker said of the new trend in Melbourne. "If they have
attempted to, the market hasn't followed."
The NRMA said that Sydney had experienced a record high in
prices last Thursday, with the average reaching 152.5 cents a
litre. The price has been falling since then and yesterday sat at a
four-day average of 146.4 cents a litre, an NRMA spokesman said.
Despite a fluctuation in station prices between 158.9 and 138.9
cents a litre, it was unusual for prices to plateau at this stage
of the week.
"We need to make sure the pricing structure is fair, regardless
of the day of the week. Crude oil prices are the highest they have
been and every economist say they will go up," the NRMA spokesman
said.
"It is further evidence that this country needs to get free of
fossil fuels and develop an alternative fuel industry in Australia.
And it needs to be green and less volatile in both pricing and the
nature of supply and demand."
Mr Walker said the arrival of static prices in Melbourne and
possibly also in Sydney was positive for motorists and showed the
rhythm of the market had been disturbed. "The reason I'm cautious
is [the Sydney figures reflect] three days, but I think this week
will tell an interesting tale."
The Rudd Government has made fuel pricing a priority ,
appointing Mr Walker as petrol commissioner and allocating $20
million in the budget to a national Fuel Watch scheme. The system,
based on a similar program in Western Australia, would require
petrol stations to state the following day's price by 2pm to
prevent movements influenced by neighbouring stations.
PetrolWorld 200508
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