Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Fuel Relief Unlikely
Fuel relief unlikely to match PM's predictions
By Catherine Sweeney
August 8 2006Shepparton News
Fluctuating fuel prices within short periods of time are making it difficult for Shepparton motorists to save at the pump.
Geoff Allemand said certain fuel outlets had a tendency to dramatically increase or drop the price of its petrol within hours, sometimes up to 12/litre.
"It is not helping people's ability to save on fuel," Mr Allemand, who promotes the Scratch Me Back fuel discount scheme, said.
"It paints a bad picture of the smaller fuel outlets that don't have the ability to cope with sharp rises and falls and no flexibility to lower or increase prices at a whim."
He said it was disappointing to see consumers suffering at the pump while some fuel companies took advantage of the hype surrounding petrol costs.
After monitoring the price of petrol in Melbourne from April to July, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found Tuesday to be the cheapest day of the week to fill up.
Thursday was the day when the price of fuel hit the hip pocket hardest.
But Mr Allemand said he believed fuel cycles were less prominent in rural areas than in metropolitan areas.
On Sunday, Prime Minister John Howard predicted petrol prices could ease a little in the near future but said low oil costs would not return.
While he said the government would not cut fuel excises, he forecast about 20/litre could be slashed from the price of petrol.
"We hope that we're not in an era of ever-rising petrol prices and perhaps somewhere in between, where that settles - $1.15, $1.20 - there's some hope of that," Mr Howard said.
However, Mr Allemand said it was unlikely prices would drop that low.
"That is a very adventurous statement," he said.
www.scratchmeback.com.au
By Catherine Sweeney
August 8 2006Shepparton News
Fluctuating fuel prices within short periods of time are making it difficult for Shepparton motorists to save at the pump.
Geoff Allemand said certain fuel outlets had a tendency to dramatically increase or drop the price of its petrol within hours, sometimes up to 12/litre.
"It is not helping people's ability to save on fuel," Mr Allemand, who promotes the Scratch Me Back fuel discount scheme, said.
"It paints a bad picture of the smaller fuel outlets that don't have the ability to cope with sharp rises and falls and no flexibility to lower or increase prices at a whim."
He said it was disappointing to see consumers suffering at the pump while some fuel companies took advantage of the hype surrounding petrol costs.
After monitoring the price of petrol in Melbourne from April to July, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found Tuesday to be the cheapest day of the week to fill up.
Thursday was the day when the price of fuel hit the hip pocket hardest.
But Mr Allemand said he believed fuel cycles were less prominent in rural areas than in metropolitan areas.
On Sunday, Prime Minister John Howard predicted petrol prices could ease a little in the near future but said low oil costs would not return.
While he said the government would not cut fuel excises, he forecast about 20/litre could be slashed from the price of petrol.
"We hope that we're not in an era of ever-rising petrol prices and perhaps somewhere in between, where that settles - $1.15, $1.20 - there's some hope of that," Mr Howard said.
However, Mr Allemand said it was unlikely prices would drop that low.
"That is a very adventurous statement," he said.
www.scratchmeback.com.au
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