What the ACCC does

  • We monitor petrol price cycles in Australia’s major cities.
  • We provide buying tips for consumers as a guide.
  • We take reports of anti-competitive behaviour in the fuel industry.

What the ACCC can't do

  • We don’t set or control Australian fuel prices or price cycles.
  • We don’t resolve individual complaints.

On this page

ACCC monitoring fuel prices following global events

We are monitoring retail fuel prices closely as international crude oil prices react to the conflict in the Middle East.

Retail fuel prices in Australia are largely determined by:

  • global factors influencing international crude oil and refined fuel prices
  • the value of the Australian-US dollar exchange rate.

Local factors also affect retail prices.

How you can monitor petrol prices

We publish charts on the state of retail petrol price cycles in Australia's 5 largest cities. We also update consumer buying tips 3 times a week for these cities.

Consumers can also use fuel price apps and websites to compare and find lower priced fuel.

Our latest quarterly monitoring report, released on 27 November, reports on recent international influences on Australian fuel prices.

Petrol price cycles affect the price of petrol

How petrol price cycles work

Petrol prices move up and down in regular patterns in Australia's largest capital cities. Petrol prices steadily decrease for a period followed by a sharper increase.

This pattern is also known as a petrol price cycle. It is a movement in the retail price from a low point (or trough) to a high point (or peak) to the following low point. Petrol price cycles do not occur in Canberra, Hobart and Darwin.

Petrol price cycles are the result of pricing policies of petrol retailers and not from changes in the wholesale cost of fuel.

The buying tips below are for regular unleaded petrol prices in Australia's 5 largest cities that have petrol price cycles. The buying tips are also applicable to premium unleaded 95, premium unleaded 98 and E10, as prices of all grades of petrol tend to move in a similar way.

Retail diesel prices do not move in cycles.

How long price cycles last

The duration of each petrol price cycle varies from cycle to cycle and by location.

The length of price cycles in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth has varied between city and over time.

In 2023 the average duration of price cycles was around 6 weeks in Sydney and Melbourne, around 7 weeks in Brisbane, and around 2 weeks in Adelaide. Perth currently has regular weekly price cycles.

Petrol buying tips and charts

You can use petrol price cycles to help you decide when to buy petrol in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. We provide buying tips for each major city.

We update:

  • buying tips on weekdays (at least Monday, Wednesday and Friday) around midday
  • historical data on price cycles as necessary.

You should use this information as a guide only. The duration of each petrol price cycle varies from cycle to cycle and by location. Historical data can only indicate or suggest the cheapest and most expensive days to buy petrol in the future.

Petrol prices in Sydney

Buying tip (updated on Friday):

  • prices are decreasing
  • motorists looking to buy petrol can shop around for the lowest prices.

This chart shows daily average regular unleaded petrol prices in Sydney over the past 45 days.

Source: Informed Sources.

Information on the past 5 price cycles in Sydney is shown in this table:

First day of cycle (low price) No. of days to highest price in the cycle Date of highest price in the cycle Days to next cycle (next low price) Total days in cycle
Sun 26 May 24 17 Wed 12 Jun 24 24 41
Sat 06 Jul 24 16 Mon 22 Jul 24 27 43
Sun 18 Aug 10 Wed 28 Aug 24 25 35
Sun 22 Sep 24 11 Thu 03 Oct 24 17 28
Sun 20 Oct 24 14 Sun 03 Nov 24 17 31

Source: ACCC calculations based on data from Informed Sources.

Petrol prices in Melbourne

Buying tip (updated on Friday):

  • prices are increasing
  • if motorists shop around, they may find some retailers that have not yet increased prices.

This chart shows daily average regular unleaded petrol prices in Melbourne over the past 45 days.

Source: Informed Sources.

Information on the past 5 price cycles in Melbourne is shown in this table:

First day of cycle (low price) No. of days to highest price in the cycle Date of highest price in the cycle Days to next cycle (next low price) Total days in cycle
Wed 10 Apr 24 15 Thu 25 Apr 24 35 50
Thu 30 May 24 13 Wed 12 Jun 24 27 40
Tue 09 Jul 24 20 Mon 29 Jul 24 28 48
Mon 26 Aug 24 22 Tue 17 Sep 24 23 45
Thu 10 Oct 24 19 Tue 29 Oct 24 33 52

Source: ACCC calculations based on data from Informed Sources.

Petrol prices in Brisbane

Buying tip (updated on Friday):

  • prices are increasing
  • if motorists shop around, they may find some retailers that have not yet increased prices.

This chart shows daily average regular unleaded petrol prices in Brisbane over the past 45 days.

Source: Informed Sources.

Information on the past 5 price cycles in Brisbane is shown in this table:

First day of cycle (low price) No. of days to highest price in the cycle Date of highest price in the cycle Days to next cycle (next low price) Total days in cycle
Mon 03 Jun 24 13 Sun 16 Jun 24 23 36
Tue 09 Jul 24 19 Sun 28 Jul 24 21 40
Sun 18 Aug 24 13 Sat 31 Aug 24 22 35
Sun 22 Sep 24 11 Thu 03 Oct 24 19 30
Tue 22 Oct 24 10 Fri 01 Nov 24 25 35

Source: ACCC calculations based on data from Informed Sources.

Petrol prices in Adelaide

Buying tip (updated on Friday):

  • prices are decreasing
  • motorists looking to buy petrol can shop around for the lowest prices.

This chart shows daily average regular unleaded petrol prices in Adelaide over the past 45 days.

Source: Informed Sources.

Information on the past 5 price cycles in Adelaide is shown in this table:

First day of the cycle (low price) No. of days to highest price in the cycle Date of highest price in the cycle Days to next cycle (next low price) Total days in cycle
Thu 26 Sep 24 9 Sat 05 Oct 24 9 18
Mon 14 Oct 24 4 Fri 18 Oct 24 1 5
Sat 19 Oct 24 8 Sun 27 Oct 24 11 19
Thu 07 Nov 24 4 Mon 11 Nov 24 16 20
Wed 27 Nov 24 5 Mon 02 Dec 24 14 19

Source: ACCC calculations based on data from Informed Sources.

Petrol prices in Perth

Buying tip (updated on Friday):

  • prices are decreasing
  • motorists looking to buy petrol can shop around for the lowest prices.

This chart shows daily average regular unleaded petrol prices in Perth over the past 45 days.

Source: Informed Sources.

Information on the past 5 price cycles in Perth is shown in this table:

First day of cycle (low price)

No. of days to highest price in the cycle

Date of highest price in the cycle

Days to next cycle (next low price)

Total days in cycle

Tue 12 Nov 24 1 Wed 13 Nov 24 6 7
Tue 19 Nov 24 1 Wed 20 Nov 24 6 7
Tue 26 Nov 24 1 Wed 27 Nov 24 6 7
Tue 03 Dec 24 1 Wed 04 Dec 24 6 7
Tue 10 Dec 24 1 Wed 11 Dec 24 6 7

Source: ACCC calculations based on data from Informed Sources.

Monitoring fuel prices following the excise cut and restoration

The ACCC closely monitored fuel prices following the Federal Budget reduction in fuel excise from 30 March to 28 September 2022. Results of our monitoring were described in the March 2022, June 2022 and September 2022 quarterly petrol reports.