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Price of fuel

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 10:51 am
by Spotter
Once again we fail to see the drop in oil price passed on at the pump. There has been a greater than 50% drop in oil price since the start of the year and my local servo has not budged from 142.2 cents per litre.

If we take todays WTI crude oil price of US$35 (AUD$53 per barrel/202 litres) then this gives us a price of 26 cents per litre. Would obviously need to add to this refinement, shipping, taxes and retail costs.

I guess my gripe in all of this is the price has been on a steady decline since October last year and we have seen zero downward pressure on pump prices.

Spend those hard earned dollars wisely and support those with the best price.

Re: Price of fuel

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 11:52 am
by Captain6979
Thats why i get around on my 125cc scooter for 5 months of the year.. Thieves at the Bowser.. Always been brutal....especially in Darwin.

Re: Price of fuel

Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2020 7:50 am
by ronje
Oils ain't oils, Spotto.

There's 159 litres of crude oil in a WTI barrel (not 202 litres).

That's processed into 79 litres of petrol or 36 litres of diesel. Explains why diesel is a bit more expensive than petrol.

Don't forget that WTI oil (West Texas Intermediate) is in US gallons which is different to Imperial gallons, so convert ALL volumes to litres and do calculations in litres ALL the way through yr calculations.

The old 44 gallon drum is in Imperial gallons and equates to 202 litres which equates to 55 US gallons.

You're on the right track. Just take note that the way things are measured in volume all over the world is different. Hence prices are much different in Aus $ than what they first seem.

The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI oil) is in US $ so the exchange rate US to Aus $ needs to be taken into account to arrive at a basic Aus price per litre (before Govt excise, GST etc).

Bit of a mess in working it out, isn't it?

Good luck.

Re: Price of fuel

Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2020 9:15 am
by Spotter
hi Ronje and thanks for the clarification :)

Whilst my calcs are way off the price has still dropped over 50% in the past 6 months with little change at the pump. Servo's capitalising on that price difference and not passing it on.

Re: Price of fuel

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 6:22 am
by ronje
Agree, Spotter

I believe that we use mainly Tapis oil in Aus (Singapore market based).

This link may help save lots of conversion calculations although it looks like its still in 159 litre barrels.

Look at the first (top) graph.

https://www.aip.com.au/pricing/internat ... rket-watch

You'll see that Tapis is more expensive than oil from other suppliers due mainly to its quality (which makes refining easier and cheaper).

Aus govt doesn't want to see public price of petrol/diesel drop as it gets considerable Govt revenue from the excise/gst.

Hanging onto a budget surplus has been politically paramount in this Govt's mind.

Now its been "forced" into a short term big spend stimulus package, it needs to not lose income.

I think import duty is charged on oil so the Govt picks up revenue at "the front end" as it enters the country.

It also picks up revenue on the "back end" at the servo pump via excise and GST.

I believe that's the real reason Govt doesn't want to intervene in failure by oil refineries and servos to pass on price drops in supply.

After all, the motoring public sees oil refineries and servos as the villains. So the Govt makes noises about sending the ACCC after them but nothing ever changes much. Govt is actually the biggest villain.

If they cut their income, then they have to find income from somewhere else to maintain their spending.

Households/businesses cut back on spending if income drops. Not so Govts.

Re: Price of fuel

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2020 8:12 am
by I Wish
i was told that most of our fuel in Darwin comes from Singapore as mentioned and sometimes from South Korea.

I thought that fuel would generally be cheaper up here since it Singapore is a lot closer to the southern ports.

Despite what those "car enthusiasts" say about the quality of our fuel.
Quality is actually very good as they take samples regularly during unloading. It then up to the various distributors to add their own additives when they load up.

Diesel is more expensive due to taxes and the additional refining to bring the Sulfur levels down. Even though it is referred to as a "dirty" fuel.

Re: Price of fuel

Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2020 11:04 pm
by Matt Flynn
Any movement on those prices yet?

Re: Price of fuel

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 1:25 pm
by Spotter
I would agree that our fuel comes from Singapore or a similar.
My understanding is that tankers basically fuel up then position themselves close to a likely market at which point they are called upon to provide fuel at an agreed price. In other words they are simply floating around out there waiting for an order. The price of oil we see quoted is likely irrelevant as tankers are competing for customers. The sooner they can sell their product to market the sooner they get paid and can fuel up again.

Again its at the pump we are not seeing the savings passed on. My nearest servo (who I dont buy fuel from) had dropped by 6c this morning. Down to 136.7 cpl.

From what I can see from the charts the oil price is back to 2002 levels. I wonder if anyone can remember back that far as to what the pump price was. Anyone have any old receipts rattling around in their glove box ;)

Re: Price of fuel

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 3:22 pm
by Matt Flynn
Unfortunately the Aussie dollar has lost 10c so that will probably offset the oil price drop somewhat.

Re: Price of fuel

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 3:27 pm
by Jeno
ronje wrote: Fri Mar 13, 2020 6:22 am Agree, Spotter

I believe that we use mainly Tapis oil in Aus (Singapore market based).

This link may help save lots of conversion calculations although it looks like its still in 159 litre barrels.

Look at the first (top) graph.

https://www.aip.com.au/pricing/internat ... rket-watch

You'll see that Tapis is more expensive than oil from other suppliers due mainly to its quality (which makes refining easier and cheaper).

Aus govt doesn't want to see public price of petrol/diesel drop as it gets considerable Govt revenue from the excise/gst.

Hanging onto a budget surplus has been politically paramount in this Govt's mind.

Now its been "forced" into a short term big spend stimulus package, it needs to not lose income.

I think import duty is charged on oil so the Govt picks up revenue at "the front end" as it enters the country.

It also picks up revenue on the "back end" at the servo pump via excise and GST.

I believe that's the real reason Govt doesn't want to intervene in failure by oil refineries and servos to pass on price drops in supply.

After all, the motoring public sees oil refineries and servos as the villains. So the Govt makes noises about sending the ACCC after them but nothing ever changes much. Govt is actually the biggest villain.

If they cut their income, then they have to find income from somewhere else to maintain their spending.

Households/businesses cut back on spending if income drops. Not so Govts.
Very well articulated Ronje....pretty much as I suspected but you explained it well....thank you! :mrgreen:

Re: Price of fuel

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 5:37 am
by ronje
Mate, its a good thing if it helps somebody.
Thanks for feedback.

Re: Price of fuel

Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 8:13 pm
by Matt Flynn
Darwin prices as shown on today's www.petrolspy.com.au

Given that global oil storage ran out with the glut and prices hit -$30 earlier this year the prices at the pump didn't change much.

Large variations in pump prices across Australia. Diesel is around $1.40 down here, looks like you are paying $1.13-$1.17.

Re: Price of fuel

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 8:34 am
by jeffish
Yeah $1.13 for diesel is the cheapest I've seen . FX is consistent , but watch out for the Woolies outlets they advertise $1.13 but if you don't have a Woolies card its $1.17