Melbourne Price Drop Fuels Relief

Published: November 18, 2008 - 11:37 AM

Melbourne Petrol Prices Plummet

By Lesley Coombes

Melbourne drivers have finally been given a break with petrol prices falling below $1.20 last week, the Herald Sun reported.

Motoring group, RACV spokesman David Cumming predicts that with crude oil expected to fall to $US40 a barrel, petrol prices may continue to get cheaper.

“Prices will be below $1.15 the week after next, possibly even by next week. As long as crude prices stay down, petrol prices will continue to tumble,” Mr Cumming said.

The federal government’s FuelWatch scheme having been defeated in the Senate last week may be another sign for motorists that petrol will continue to get cheaper.

FuelWatch, a proposed petrol price monitoring scheme would have forced service stations to advertise the following day’s fuel prices.

The government argued FuelWatch would increase competition and transparency in the retail fuel market.

“We want to make shopping for petrol no longer a guessing game, we want to remove some of the uncertainties,” government frontbencher Nick Sherry said.

This would have given drivers more choice and motivated them to use their own initiative when it comes to buying fuel.

Without FuelWatch’s help consumers will have to be vigilant in sourcing the cheapest fuel outlets. The recent drop in petrol prices may incentivise consumers to look for more opportunities to make savings. Their resourcefulness could also extend to off road energy spending.

Fortunately, a transparent market does exist for other energy commodities such as gas and electricity. Similar to the concept of FuelWatch, Victorians can shop around for the cheapest Victorian electricity suppliers and gas companies.

ShopAround.com.au makes it easy to compare gas and electricity prices by providing an easy-to-use gas and electricity comparison table.

Consumers need not passively stay with the same supplier at the same prices. By shopping around, consumers are using their own initiative when looking for cheap gas and cheap electricity. The service is free to use and consumers can switch electricity or gas suppliers online in under 5 minutes.

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