By Chris Becker
From Commsec:
- World oil prices have lifted over the past week on fears that the violence in Iraq could lead to a disruption of oil supplies in the region.
- But the good news for Aussie motorists is that the Aussie dollar has also been rising, putting a cap on imported fuel prices.
- Importantly also US oil production continues to rise, hitting 44-year highs, and reducing worries about the potential for lower global oil supplies to boost prices.
- According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of unleaded petrol fell by 1.8 cents a litre to 149.9 c/l in the week to June 15. The metropolitan price fell by 2.5 c/l to 147.6 c/l, while the regional average price fell by 0.6 cents per litre to 154.5 c/l
- Sydney motorists could still get E10 fuel this morning at 138.7 cents a litre and ULP petrol at 140.7 cents, below wholesale prices close to 142 cents a litre.
Looking past the fuel bowser and into the macro picture:
- The national average retail diesel price fell by 0.3 cents a litre to 159.3 cents a litre last week. The national wholesale (terminal gate) diesel price fell by 2.3 cents last week to 141.8 cents per litre.
- Last week the key Singapore gasoline price rose by US$3.15 or 2.6 per cent to US$123.60 a barrel. In Australian dollar terms the Singapore gasoline price rose by $2.17 a barrel or 1.7 per cent last week to $131.24 a barrel or 82.54 cents a litre. But in the previous fortnight, Singapore gasoline fell by A$3.49 a barrel.
Commsec rightly points out that for consumers, petrol is one of the biggest “ticket items” of their weekly shop, and higher prices at the pump will hit the consumer sector (especially discretionary fully).
For those exposed to fuel costs, let’s hope AUD can stay on track with oil:
