PETROL costs are a perennial subject of interest at holiday times, when motorists often feel that prices have been jacked up just as they decide to fill the tank on the way to the wild blue yonder.
In a news report today, we quote the NRMA on "stable or decreasing" prices in the Hunter: 109.7 cents a litre for unleaded in Maitland, 120 cents a litre at Singleton and 124.6 cents a litre in Newcastle.
Importantly, for those able to pick and choose where they buy their fuel, the NRMA points to a substantial spread of 22 cents a litre in Newcastle.
The dearest petrol in the city, at 141 cents a litre, is more than 18 per cent dearer than the cheapest, at 119 cents.
To drive home the significance of the differences, the NRMA says it amounts to $15 a tank in filling up an average car.
Globally, it is no surprise that crude oil production fell during 2020 because of the economic impact of COVID-19 restrictions.
A US government summary published last month put world oil production at 94 million barrels a day, a fall of 6 per cent on the 2019 daily average of 100 million barrels.
Prices have also fallen with production.
Talk of "negative" oil prices made headlines around the world last April.
It was soon clarified that the "negative" price was a reference to oil "futures", driven by concerns the industry was running out of places to store unused production.
Across 2020, crude prices were typically as low as $US40 ($51) and $US45 ($58) a barrel, well down on any long-term averages.
The question now is whether demand and prices pick up as vaccines start to counter the coronavirus.
In Australia, as elsewhere, inquiries are ordered from time to time by governments worried about the impacts of "bowser shock".
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission website contains decades' worth of fuel price documents, including comprehensive quarterly fuel market reports.
The ACCC says price cycles exist as a result of "deliberate pricing policies of petrol retailers" that are "not directly related to changes in wholesale costs".
Its website publishes up-to-date graphs of price cycles in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Additionally, "live" service station maps, such as petrolspy.com.au, give thousands of real-time prices.
There were exceptions, but its maps yesterday revealed most Sydney prices to be noticeably below the Hunter's.
Ouch.
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