Australian average fuel prices hit all-time high

Australian motorists are taking a bigger hit to the hip pocket than ever before as average fuel prices across the country soar to their highest levels yet.

At the conclusion of the week ending on February 20, the Australian Institute of Petroleum reported an average price for fuel in Australia of 179.1 cents per litre (cpl) for 91 octane unleaded, an all-time high and a surge of nearly 30 cents above the lowest point over the last six months – having bottomed out at 150.6cpl on September 5.

Unsurprisingly, the most populous city in Australia has the most expensive fuel, with Petrol Spy showing Sydney's average price has risen to 190.2cpl at the time of writing, well and truly beyond the record-breaking high of 173.2cpl reported in October last year.

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At that time, Brent crude oil had passed the US$80 per-barrel marker and was selling at US$83.80 – however, the push upwards has continued to hit US$97.35 at the time of writing, an increase greater than US$30 a barrel, more than a year prior.

Despite having a touch under five per cent of Sydney's population, Hobart's average price also sits at 190.2cpl, just a few cents more than Darwin which is currently experiencing a high of 187.6cpl.

The nation's capital is sitting just above the national average with Canberran prices recorded at 179.2cpl while Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide are the only three capital cities to sit under the 179.1cpl mark, Adelaide recording the lowest average of 164.8cpl.

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Off the back of Queensland's capital Brisbane hitting its own high of 191.4cpl on February 15 (now down to 182.9cpl), RACQ's Kate Leonard-Jones said motorists can expect a fall in prices over the next few weeks.

“Unfortunately for drivers, international supply and demand issues as well as ongoing geo-political tensions have led to surging oil prices,” said Leonard-Jones.

“When combined with the south east [Queensland] regular price cycle, this has created the perfect storm of factors and resulted in these eye-watering bowser prices.

“Now that prices have peaked, we will start to see the cost of fuel slowly fall by one or two cents each day as markets enter the discounting phase of the cycle.

“If you do need fuel, make sure you’re only topping up with the bare minimum for now, as we will see prices ease over the coming weeks.

“The bad news is oil prices are extremely volatile, so if we see a continuation or worsening of those global factors, this will eventually flow on to what drivers are charged at the bowser and in the next price hike, we could see the cost of petrol soar even higher."

Diesel owners are experiencing minimal savings compared to their petrol-buying counterparts, as the average price of diesel at the end of last week stood at 178.5cpl, just 0.6cpl less than 91 octane.

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Australian average fuel prices – February 22

Data via Petrol Spy.