Petrol price fixing

[colcol]

Today on the way to work, the petrol prices had reached their lowest price on the weekly price cycle, on the way home within an hour of each other, up went the price by an average of 15 cents, to me this is illegal price fixing, as the day varies when it goes up, so SOMEONE must be giving the word to shove up the prices if by email, phone or SMS, it can't be a COINCIDENCE that they all go up within an hour of each other, we motorists are being treated like MUGS, the RACV are too gutless to do anything about it, look at how they let all Goverments get away with speed camera RORTS, if you owned a supermarket and every week at a certain time you put the price of milk up 10%, you would be dragged through the courts for price fixing, look at what happened in the cardboard packaging industry a few years ago millions of dollars in fines, a spokesperson for the RACV a Mr. John Shinybum, advised motorists to fillup when prices were cheap, well thanks for the good advice, now i remember why my car is insured with Shannons and not with you, as you are lazy pen pusher that gets money for nothing, i don't give a stuff about about if they are high or not, just stop pretending its all ok, lucky i have a good economic 156 JTS, an angry Colin.

[kartone]

Colin, you are 100% right. Add the ACCC to the gutless pencil-pusher mob 
I was living in the US in the early '80s when BP was found guilty of overcharging consumers, the penalty was to sell fuel for a period of 6 months at 15% below the going market price, should have seen the lines around the block   

[vin sharp]

I have been in a service station and witnessed the owner taking a call from the "competition" just up the road, advising him of what time and what price to adjust to.......and he then called the next 2 servo guys down the road at the next intersection.....and so on I would imagine.

[Brad M]

Colin, you are 100% right. Add the ACCC to the gutless pencil-pusher mob 
I was living in the US in the early '80s when BP was found guilty of overcharging consumers, the penalty was to sell fuel for a period of 6 months at 15% below the going market price, should have seen the lines around the block   

Not convinced that was a bright idea, good punishment for BP, too bad for their competitors who would have struggled to get business and possibly close down ... letting BP jack up their prices later with less competition. As long as there was cheap gas for all the pick-up's.

[Steve S]

Do petrol prices cycle so much in other states? What is the reason for it?

[Brad M]

I registered up to this site and get a daily email telling me the prices in my area each day ... http://motormouth.com.au/  It covers other states.

WA prices don't vary during the day due to the state government implementing Fuel Watch, which means the retailers must register their prices for the following day and they can't change it. Don't know if it stops the fluctuations.

[Davidm1600]

Do petrol prices cycle so much in other states? What is the reason for it?

Nope, come to the land of milk and honey, or something like that anyway.  Down here in Tassie, we don' have this system that is endemic to the mainland. The price we pay is the same every day, albeit it is not cheap !!  It only fluctuates with the vagrencies of the international oil market price and what the oil companies are charging. There is some level of differences between servos but that is up to each servo to decide.

Like Col, I too am glad I have a JTS 156 as my daily drive, it is so bloody economical.

[colcol]

When the cardboard cowboys got busted and fined millions of dollars, i didn't care or know about it, when you go to the fruit market and the prices go up, thats because the produce is fresher or in big demand, when all the petrol stations phone each other to put the prices up because it is Thursday afternoon, you know that the RACV and ACCC and oil companys are off playing Golf with each other, Colin.

[Davidm1600]

For sure Colin, hence at least down here in Tassie we don't have such idiotic nonsense happening like you guys do on the mainland.  Yet another reason why it is good here.

[colcol]

A few predictions for 2011, 1. Seby Vetal will win the formula championship this year, 2. Mark Webber will still have trouble with his launch control going into 'anti stall' mode on the start line, 3.The Victorian Goverment will endorse speed camera's as a way of contributing to road safety, 4. Club member Colin Thomas will continue to eat too many donuts, 5.Petrol prices will go up tommorow [thursday] in Victoria, 6. RACV spokesperson Mr John Shinybum will call it a petrol price spike and advise motorists to fill up their cars when the petrol is at its bottom price cycle, Colin.

[Davidm1600]

agh but you forgot one, though perhaps that is not such a bad thing.  Bloody ATG is back on the box and while, thankfully no mention of Pretzels or an appearance from Warnie, it is still crap, and aimed squarely at bogans who only love Utes, and V8s. 

Give me strength !! You don't eat so many donuts do you MD.  Man you will need to give them up or perhaps the shitboxes can run on them next year.

[colcol]

Australian Top Gear is an embarrasment, i should know because i watched most of them, hoping it would get better, but it didn't, oh and another thing, for the first time ever, i may be wrong!, i predicted that petrol prices would go up on thursday afternoon, but it seems now it will be delayed until friday in time for the weekend, Colin.

[colcol]

I reckon next time i buy another car[Alfa Romeo], it will be a diesel as here in Victoria the diesel price remains the same, but the petrol price goes up 15 cents per litre, usually on pay day thursday or before the weekend on friday, then drops down during the week, because they can, luckily i have a good economical JTS, or i would have something to whinge about, Colin.

[colcol]

On a big drive around Melbourne today, all the prices of petrol are going up, Caltex is always the first to hike their prices up 15cents per litre, with the no name brands being the last, but the no name brands have ethanol in their petrol, LPG is now only half the price of petrol, hardly worth all the bother, unless you drive a million kilometres per year, Ford must be doing it tough with the dedicated LPG Falcon, as ever diesel remains stable, spokesperson for the RACV Mr. John Shinybum said motorists should fill when the price cycle is at its lowest, because as sure as hell i am not doing any thing about it, Colin.

[Duk]

A couple of things people need to remember.
1st of all, oil companies are VERY powerful, private organizations (it's hundreds of billion if not multi-trillion dollar world wide industry). If they want to shove the price of fuel up, then no government has any power to do anything about it. Some public facade where some puppet politician is on the idiot box condemning the oil companies is only there to try and appease the public, but it's nothing more than a pissy little smoke screen.
2nd, as I'm sure everyone is aware, when the price of fuel goes up the government's take also goes up.

Now lets all sing along together: "Conflict of interest!" Well done boys and girls!

The way I see it, the only way that fuel prices in this country will ever be respectable is when we sort out our rogue government and bitch slap them back into alignment with what the public, those people who pay for them, actually want.
Have set in absolute stone a reasonable taxable amount, say GST, that is ABSOLUTELY LOCKED SOLID at 10% and anybody who suggests otherwise will be publicly flogged!.
Then, and only then, can we rely on OUR government to tell the oil companies what is acceptable in selling OUR resources back to us.

But it will never happen............