Issue Date:  -  Tuesday, 25 March 2003

Caltex-Ampol price hike unjustified

Caltex/Ampol average prices in Perth will jump up 6.8 cpl to 103.5 cpl for unleaded petrol (ULP) tomorrow.

Consumer Protection's Price Commissioner, Patrick Walker, said the price hike is unjustified and is urging motorists to use FuelWatch before they buy their fuel, particularly over the next few days.

"Caltex/Ampol senior management who made this pricing decision should hang their heads in shame for such blatant profiteering.

"Caltex/Ampol have no justification for this price hike whatsoever, and we would hope the other oil companies will not use the `price cycle' as an excuse to follow.

"The price is not justified when you consider the current import parity price, Caltex's own wholesale price and certainly not when you directly compare their own retail prices when the market situation was similar.

"On 7 February 2003, when Caltex's wholesale price was 93.63 cpl and our import parity indicator was close to 91.5 cpl, the average retail price at Caltex/Ampol sites went up to 99.82 at the top of the price cycle. Tomorrow their wholesale price is 93.29, the import parity indicator will be just over 92 cpl and yet their retail price is jumping to an average of 103.1 cpl. This means Caltex are gouging nearly 4 cpl more out of Perth motorists.

"Wholesale and international price indicators are still showing a downward trend and this should be reflected at the pump."

178 stations, 50% of fuel retailers in the metropolitan area, will be selling ULP at or below 96 cpl tomorrow.

"If half of Perth's fuel retailers can sell at these prices this says to me retailers are already making a reasonable margin on their wholesale price. This combined with the international indicators just does not make sense.

"Clearly motorists don't need to pay any more than the average price and can get it even cheaper from a number of petrol stations throughout Perth. Motorists should always reward the retailers who are keeping their prices down.

"Perth motorists need to keep an eye on prices they are paying for fuel and use the government's FuelWatch service to find the best prices at stations convenient to them," Mr Walker said.

FuelWatch lists the Top 100 prices in the Metropolitan area available on their website: www.fuelwatch.wa.gov.au