Experts tip no Easter petrol price hike

31 Mar 2010, 7:37 pm   -   Source: AAP
Share This
Steady global oil prices, a strong Australian dollar and a stable wholesale petrol price are all pointing away from an Easter price hike. (File AAP)

Steady global oil prices, a strong Australian dollar and a stable wholesale petrol price are all pointing away from an Easter price hike. (File AAP)

It looks like Good Friday will indeed be that for motorists with petrol prices steady leading up to the four-day long weekend.

RELATED

It looks like Good Friday will indeed be that for motorists with petrol prices steady leading up to the four-day long weekend.

Steady global oil prices, a strong Australian dollar and a stable wholesale petrol price are all pointing away from an Easter price hike.

The nation's peak motoring body has warned petrol stations there will be no justification for a price hike outside the normal 10 to 12 cent weekly cycle.

"There should be nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to price rises," Australian Automobile Association chief Mike Harris told AAP.

The average price of a litre of unleaded is at $1.25 on Wednesday with any hike expected to start at petrol pumps as workers head home.

Economist Craig James agreed with Mr Harris.

"The wholesale price has been falling," Mr James told AAP.

He pointed at a gap between the wholesale and retail costs of petrol and suggested pump prices needed to continue dropping if the gap was to close.

"We do need to see that average price coming down."

Comment was sought from the competition watchdog Graeme Samuel.

In global developments the head of the oil cartel that controls global petroleum markets praised the steady price of oil.

But the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) secretary general Abdalla Salem El Badri said that "anything below $US70 will not permit us to invest."

Oil prices have ranged from $US70 ($A76.17) to $US80 ($A87.05) a barrel in recent months.

"We think this 70 to 80 range will not damage any recovery, or hinder any recovery," El Badri said at a forum of 65 countries responsible for 90 per cent of the world's oil production and consumption.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube