North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

The oil price is near a five-year low ... have bowser prices come down to five-year lows?

http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fu ... electronic

Need more competition for that to happen...boating would be more affordable...how much were we paying 5 years ago ?

Hereyago, $2.80 a gallon, should get a tanker full shipped over ... http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gas-pr ... 2014-10-14?

Groote still does unleaded at 87c a litre

I think a simple solution is to organise everyone for a month to pic one brand service station. So for a whole month people fill up only at BP. You could organise it through Facebook and local forums, there is plenty of them. If you could achieve atleast 30—40% of the darwin population doing this the other fuel companies might drop their fuel profit margins

Jackh wrote:I think a simple solution is to organise everyone for a month to pic one brand service station. So for a whole month people fill up only at BP. You could organise it through Facebook and local forums, there is plenty of them. If you could achieve atleast 30—40% of the darwin population doing this the other fuel companies might drop their fuel profit margins

Not a bad idea, however better to pick the independants like United. United is often the least expencive, BP are the most expencive and the other multinationals don't give a dam. If everyone starts going to the cheaper independants the multinational will drop their prices to match.

We could organise it on here, every boaty filling up their boats only fill at United. See if we can make a difference.

I was having a chat over a beer with an old bloke who recently sold his business and retired.
He was saying the issue isn't with the fuel stations itself; those who have franchise with BP, Shell or Caltex are just as much at the mercy of the big Corporations as we are.

It’s a catch 22 especially up here were a lot of the fuel is being paid for by fuel cards. Most of them only make a few cents per litre. The fuel station owners have to pay large amounts for the franchise which isn’t a one off upfront cost its more like a monthly payment. Along with having to buy the fuel off the said corporation at the price set by the corporation. It not like they can shop else where for a better price.

When the fuel corporation puts there prices up (which they are entitled to do, depending on the price of a barrel) the station still needs to compete with the other large and small franchises within there area. So if the big fuel corporations keep the fuel prices up to maintain profit the local fuel station will start to loss profit.

So boycotting a fuel brand in one area, and only for a short time is really only going to affect the poor bloke trying to run his business.

United proably buy there fuel from BP, shell or Caltex if not all of them. If thats the case your not affecting anything and jus screwing the station owners.

Ben Jam wrote:I was having a chat over a beer with an old bloke who recently sold his business and retired.
He was saying the issue isn't with the fuel stations itself; those who have franchise with BP, Shell or Caltex are just as much at the mercy of the big Corporations as we are.

It’s a catch 22 especially up here were a lot of the fuel is being paid for by fuel cards. Most of them only make a few cents per litre. The fuel station owners have to pay large amounts for the franchise which isn’t a one off upfront cost its more like a monthly payment. Along with having to buy the fuel off the said corporation at the price set by the corporation. It not like they can shop else where for a better price.

When the fuel corporation puts there prices up (which they are entitled to do, depending on the price of a barrel) the station still needs to compete with the other large and small franchises within there area. So if the big fuel corporations keep the fuel prices up to maintain profit the local fuel station will start to loss profit.

So boycotting a fuel brand in one area, and only for a short time is really only going to affect the poor bloke trying to run his business.

United proably buy there fuel from BP, shell or Caltex if not all of them. If thats the case your not affecting anything and jus screwing the station owners.

Even more reason to only fill up at the independants (United) then it will be more attractive for the station owners to go independant and no longer be at the mercy of the big fuel corporations. They all buy their fuel through Vopac at the same price. United sell it to us cheaper (even if it is only a tiny amount) and if the Darwin market chaced the lower prices this would drive down the price.

Wish I could but I only have BP, Caltex and shell fuel cards.

Ben Jam wrote:Wish I could but I only have BP, Caltex and shell fuel cards.

Yeah, that sux.
But you can make a difference by only going to the cheapest of the 3, even though you’re not directly paying for it. BP is always a few cents dearer than the others and I'm sure they survive solely on their captured fuel card market. If there is a choice between them and a cheaper option and everyone go's the cheaper option they will be forced to drop the price. Unfortunately it means people will need to be a bit more aware and proactive and seek out lower prices at the expense of convenience.

I thought i heard that The government has come out and said that the Petrol Station owners were putting the 30c per litre profit margin on themselves compared to the average of 5-8c profit margin in the other capital cities. The United service station owner in Katherine dropped his prices right down after the fuel inquiry, he didn't want to be shafting his customers.

Hi all

I am new on here and I have been reading some of your comments regarding the fuel issue
What about this for a suggestion instead of boycotting the service stations which would be hard to arrange and maintain
how about every body just focus there attention on the Chief Minister to force a change from above.

He arranged a fuel summit in record time even though we have been getting ripped off for years after public pressure
He basically forced Puma to attend the fuel summit i believe even though they didn't want to attend after public pressure
Public pressure also removed his Deputy Minister not all that long ago as well i think

I wonder if the public focuses all there attention directly on him would we see some more record changes?

cheers

The latest ... http://www.news.com.au/national/norther ... 7098155159

Matt Flynn wrote:The latest ... http://www.news.com.au/national/norther ... 7098155159

Keep following the cheapest fuel and the price will come down.