Petrol Price Movements

In its December 2010 report on the Australian Petroleum Industry, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found clear evidence of artificail weekly price cycles in the daily petrol price movements  in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The report which covered the period from March to May 2010 found that in each of these capital cities, the price of petrol rose sharply over one or two days, and then gradually decreased over the rest of the week.

According to the ACCC, these price increases have generally been led by the refiner-marketers. In the discounting phase the most active retailers have usually been Woolworths, 7-Eleven, other independents (for example, United), and, to a lesser extent, Coles Express.

On 27 May 2010 Mobil announced the sale of its retail assets to 7-Eleven. Also Shell and Mobil are now effectively out of petrol retailing. The retail market share of these “non-refiner-marketers” is now over 50% of the Australian petroleum industry in Australia.

The report noted that the degree of coordination observed in price cycles is a source of concern for Australian consumers and “remains a concern for the ACCC”.