Brisbane residents are being slugged the highest prices in Australia to fill a tank of petrol, new data has revealed.
At the other other end of this year’s petrol price rankings, Perth was again the nation’s cheapest city.
The NRMA report analysed prices for regular unleaded across Australia’s capitals throughout 2023.
With an average price of 193.4 cents per litre, Brisbane had the most expensive petrol, followed by Canberra in second and Melbourne third.
Despite being the nation’s largest market, Sydney’s average of 190.7 cents per litre put it fourth.
Hobart sat fifth, ridding itself of the title of being the nation’s most expensive capital for petrol, a position it had held every year since 2017.
Since 2017 Perth has been the cheapest capital city twice and second cheapest twice.
Adelaide, which has one of the strongest concentrations of independent service stations in the country, recorded the second cheapest price for the year at 186 cents per litre.
Since 2017 Adelaide has been the cheapest capital city four times and second cheapest twice.
NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said Australia’s exposure to the volatility of world oil prices was painfully apparent in 2023, following the record high prices experienced post-COVID in 2022.
“Fuel prices – and in particular diesel – have had a negative impact on the budgets of Australian families and our nation’s economy throughout much of 2023 and only now are we starting to see some relief,” Khoury said.
In September petrol prices hit a record high.
Global oil prices were highly volatile in 2023.
The announcement by Saudi Arabia, Russia and OPEC to deliver sustained production cuts in September led to price spikes globally with fears there would be no relief for the last four months of the year.
But record levels of oil production from the United States and other non-OPEC producing nations, coupled with ongoing uncertainty about the Chinese economy, helped force downward pressure on prices in the lead-up to Christmas.
(9 NEWS)
