Price rise defence backfires on Caltex

Kelly Burke, 01/06/07

Average Sydney petrol prices reached a high for the year yesterday (31st May), prompting the NRMA to speculate on whether petrol retailers were "getting in a week early" before the Queen's Birthday weekend.

With the long weekend still 10 days away, Sydney's average fuel price soared to 140.1 cents, while in rural areas prices at some bowsers climbed as high as 155 cents.

The increase comes a day after Caltex issued a media release saying oil companies were predicting they would once more be falsely accused of artificially inflating petrol prices ahead of a long weekend.

But in arguing its case, Caltex issued a series of graphs that appeared to prove its critics' case.

Showing the average pump prices between April 18 and July 2 last year in all the five capital cities, only in Perth did the price not reach its highest peak immediately before the Queen's Birthday long weekend.

However, Caltex's spokesman, Richard Beattie, said the spike was the result "of an unusual and intense bout of discounting" by Woolworths and Coles, where a substantial portion of the pump price fell below the wholesale price.

The subsequent high peaks were simply a recovery in the retail price.

But the NRMA's motoring and services director, Graham Blight, said Caltex's graphs were proof that oil companies were ripping off families.

"The graphs show that the price reached outrageous heights in the two days before the long weekend, just as families were getting ready to go away," Mr Blight said.

"Ripping us off in broad daylight is one thing, but to treat Australian motorists like idiots with these ridiculous Monty Pythonesque antics is disrespectful, and the oil giant should know better."

... and the goverment twiddles their thumbs like so

do do do do do do do do do do do

My old man leased a few servo's several years ago and the fuel companies would ring him up and tell him what price to sell his fuel at, he told them to go F themselves, funny enough after a couple of months of selling fuel at a stable and reasonable price, the fuel companies took him to court and terminated his lease, put in a manager and all his old servo's started the same racket we see above.....

Look what happened to a previously de-throned Arab leader that told the fuel companies what to do... I saw him last swinging on a rope.....

I run my car on 100 vracing, its getting up to 1.58 to a dollar sixty

today it was 156.9.

exise plus gst on top.......a tax on a tax.

I remember little jonny saying its not a tax on a tax its a new tax system.

Edited June 1, 200719 yr by BFHOON

Stinking fuel prices

Cost me $105 to fill the Hilux on Optimax.... Just like sex, I'm glad I dont have to pay for it

I run my car on 100 vracing, its getting up to 1.58 to a dollar sixty

today it was 156.9.

exise plus gst on top.......a tax on a tax.

I remember little jonny saying its not a tax on a tax its a new tax system.

is the car tuned to vpower?

if not your totally wasting your cash....

the way its going we'll all be running our cars on canola oil

might start my own crop in the backyard..

some people on here must have crops out the back im sure of it!