Maitland has gone from having the cheapest average unleaded fuel price in NSW to the state's most expensive in only a week, according to new figures.
The average ULP price in Maitland soared from 110.2c/l for the week ending January 31 to 149.5c/l for the week ending February 7, according to the latest NRMA Weekly Petrol Report released on Tuesday.
The 39.3c/l week-on-week increase was by far the largest among the dozens of locations surveyed by the motorists' watchdog across the state.
The next greatest increases in NSW occurred at Singleton, which jumped by 19.4c/l to 138.7c/l and Newcastle where the average price increased by 15.7c/l to 139.2c/l.
Maitland, Newcastle, Singleton and the Central Coast filled four of the five top places for the state's most expensive average unleaded petrol prices for the week, along with Tweed Heads South - which placed second most costly in the rankings.
Muswellbrook was the second cheapest at 118.3c/l, less than 1c/l behind Gunnedah.
Meanwhile, the average price in Sydney dropped by 4.3c/l week-on-week to 135.2c/l.
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury told the Newcastle Herald the price rise at Maitland was the type of increase consumers expected in Sydney - not in regional NSW.
"At 150 on average [Maitland] is one of the most expensive in the country, let alone the state," he said.
"That sort of significant jump would have shocked the socks off motorists in that area.
"The gap now between the wholesale price and the retail price [in Maitland] is 34c/l - that's a pretty decent profit margin."
Mr Khoury said prices across NSW were expected to continue to rise slowly in the short-term, but given Maitland's dramatic jump, the cost at the bowser there "should start to come down".
He noted that while Maitland's average price at the pump was well above the wholesale value, it was below it during the previous week.
"We hope our members made the most of that last week," he said.
"We're not excited about 150c/l when the wholesale price is 116c/l."
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