The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inquiry into petrol prices will hold a public hearing in Sydney tomorrow (Tuesday April 2).
The major oil company, Mobil, and groups representing motorists and farmers will present their evidence during the hearing.
The inquiry is reviewing the present method of regulating wholesale petrol prices in Australia. Ampol, which presented its case to the Melbourne hearing yesterday, is pressing for the removal of all government controls on petrol prices. The inquiry is also examining the disparity between city and country prices and has been asked to recommend any measures that might sharpen competition in rural markets.
A further seven 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 Sydney hearing are:
Time: 10.00am, 2 April Location: Wesley Centre 220 Pitt Street Sydney