The average price of unleaded petrol has surged well past $2 a litre in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane today.
Australian oil companies are being accused of profiteering off the war in Iran as the average price of unleaded petrol surges well past $2 a litre in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane today.
Half of the petrol stations in Melbourne today are charging 219.9 cents a litre, while half in Sydney have raised prices to between 217.9 and 223.9 - well in excess of the expected top of their price cycles.
Brisbane had the highest average unleaded price of the three capitals, at 210.2 cents per litre, according to the MyNRMA app.
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By contrast, the average price of unleaded petrol in Adelaide and Perth remains at 185 cents and 189.1 cents a litre respectively.
NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury told 9News these price hikes were "completely wrong".
"Average prices were already at the top of the price cycle - they have absolutely ballooned," he said.
"Oil companies are using the Middle East crisis as an excuse to jack up margins. This must stop immediately.
"With prices in Australia's three largest cities already at the top of the regular cycle, half of the stations in our three biggest cities are effectively inflating that margin to take advantage of the community."
"This is not the time to be ripping off Australian families."
Queensland's peak motoring body, RACQ, has also come down on major fuel retailers, referring them to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for investigation.
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At 9am yesterday, the highest price for unleaded petrol in south-east Queensland was 213.9 cents per litre.
By 10am, around 40 sites had hiked their prices to 219.9 cents per litre and within 24 hours, almost half had followed suit.
RACQ's Principal Economic and Affordability Specialist Dr Ian Jeffreys said major retailers led the jump in price.
"If anything, prices in SEQ should be falling right now," Jeffreys said.
"We've seen an increase in the global oil price, but that usually takes around two weeks to flow through to bowsers here in Australia, not two days."
It comes after Treasurer Jim Chalmers put retailers on notice yesterday, urging the ACCC to monitor for price gouging amid a jump in global oil prices.
Global oil prices have been tracking upwards, rising 10 per cent already this week to almost $US80 a barrel, but these wholesale prices take about seven to 10 days to flow through to the bowser.
Long lines have been reported at some petrol stations in Australia's most populous cities as news filtered out that a crucial oil supply line, the Strait of Hormuz, had been effectively cut off by Iranian attacks.
The Strait of Hormuz - the only waterway in or out of the Persian Gulf - normally sees 15 billion barrels of oil pass through it each day, about 20 per cent of the global supply.
That has all but drawn to a halt now, after Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) threatened to fire on any vessels attempting to pass through it.
"There is no need to rush to the service station and fill up,"
However, Energy Minister Chris Bowen insisted there was "no need to rush to the service station".
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"We have a good stock of petrol in reserve in Australia."
Australia currently has a 34-day supply of diesel and a 36-day supply of unleaded petrol, not including what is already in the retail network.
However, ACAPMA chief executive Rowan Lee says Australia's oil supply will not run out even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
"Over half our fuel comes out of Singapore, and that is fed in by oil that comes out of South Korea, Japan, Burnei, Malaysia and India," he told the ABC.
"We draw very little oil out of the Middle East."
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