The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inquiry into petrol prices will begin with a public hearing in Melbourne tomorrow (Monday April 1).
Ampol and BP, petrol distributors and service station operators will provide their initial evidence during the first day of hearings in Melbourne.
The inquiry will review the present method of regulating wholesale petrol prices in Australia. It will also examine the disparity between city and country prices and recommend any measures that might sharpen competition in rural markets.
A further eight days of hearings have been scheduled for April and early May.
Public hearings will be conducted in every State capital city and two regional centres, Townsville and Albury-Wodonga. The inquiry is planning to visit several other regional locations in order to examine conditions in local markets with a history of pricing problems.
The Commission will assess the degree of competition at each level of the industry.
Some of the issues to be examined are:
the structure of the industry, including the impact of vertical integration oil company moves to multi-site franchising;
regulations governing the ownership and location of service stations;
pricing and access to supplies from main distribution terminals; and
why prices in the country are generally higher than in the city, sometimes more than 10c a litre higher.
The Commission is scheduled to submit its report to the Commonwealth Government by July 31.
Details of the Melbourne hearing are:
Time: 9.30am, 1 April Location: Hearing room Level 35, The Tower 360 Elizabeth Street Melbourne
