What affects fuel prices
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, such as the level of competition can also affect retail prices.
Learn more about what affects fuel prices.
Petrol price cycles
Petrol prices move up and down in regular patterns in Australia's 5 largest cities. Prices can increase sharply over a short period, then decrease gradually over a longer period before the process repeats.
This pattern is also known as a petrol price cycle.
Petrol price cycles are the result of pricing decisions made by various petrol retailers. They are not driven by movements in wholesale prices or underlying costs. Not all retailers participate in price cycles.
How long petrol price cycles last in each city
The duration of petrol price cycles in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth varies between city and over time.
In 2024, the average duration of petrol price cycles was around:
- 5 and a half weeks in Sydney
- 6 and a half weeks in Melbourne
- 6 weeks in Brisbane
- 2 and a half weeks in Adelaide
- 1 week in Perth.
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. For these cities, 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.
Buying tip (updated on Wednesday):
- prices have decreased; we encourage motorists to use fuel price apps and websites to find lower priced retailers.
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 |
| Fri 29 Aug 25 |
14 |
Fri 12 Sep 25 |
21 |
35 |
| Fri 03 Oct 25 |
13 |
Thu 16 Oct 25 |
20 |
33 |
| Wed 05 Nov 25 |
14 |
Wed 19 Nov 25 |
14 |
28 |
| Wed 03 Dec 25 |
12 |
Mon 15 Dec 25 |
27 |
39 |
| Sun 11 Jan 26 |
16 |
Tue 27 Jan 26 |
15 |
31 |
Source: ÌÇÐÄÔ´´ calculations based on data from Informed Sources.
Buying tip (updated on Wednesday):
- prices have decreased; we encourage motorists to use fuel price apps and websites to find lower priced retailers.
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 |
| Fri 01 Aug 25 |
13 |
Thu 14 Aug 25 |
24 |
37 |
| Sun 07 Sep 25 |
15 |
Mon 22 Sep 25 |
25 |
40 |
| Fri 17 Oct 25 |
13 |
Thu 30 Oct 25 |
20 |
33 |
| Wed 19 Nov 25 |
14 |
Wed 03 Dec 25 |
21 |
35 |
| Wed 24 Dec 25 |
19 |
Mon 12 Jan 26 |
22 |
41 |
Source: ÌÇÐÄÔ´´ calculations based on data from Informed Sources.
Buying tip (updated on Wednesday):
- prices have decreased; we encourage motorists to use fuel price apps and websites to find lower priced retailers.
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 |
| Sun 03 Aug 25 |
12 |
Fri 15 Aug 25 |
25 |
37 |
| Tue 09 Sep 25 |
12 |
Sun 21 Sep 25 |
24 |
36 |
| Wed 15 Oct 25 |
13 |
Tue 28 Oct 25 |
22 |
35 |
| Wed 19 Nov 25 |
13 |
Tue 02 Dec 25 |
22 |
35 |
| Wed 24 Dec 25 |
19 |
Mon 12 Jan 26 |
22 |
41 |
Source: ÌÇÐÄÔ´´ calculations based on data from Informed Sources.
Buying tip (updated on Wednesday):
- prices have decreased; we encourage motorists to use fuel price apps and websites to find lower priced retailers.
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 |
| Sun 02 Nov 25 |
4 |
Thu 06 Nov 25 |
11 |
15 |
| Mon 17 Nov 25 |
6 |
Sun 23 Nov 25 |
11 |
17 |
| Thu 04 Dec 25 |
6 |
Wed 10 Dec 25 |
8 |
14 |
| Thu 18 Dec 25 |
6 |
Wed 24 Dec 25 |
20 |
26 |
| Tue 13 Jan 26 |
9 |
Thu 22 Jan 26 |
23 |
32 |
Source: ÌÇÐÄÔ´´ calculations based on data from Informed Sources.
Buying tip (updated on Wednesday):
- prices have decreased; we encourage motorists to use fuel price apps and websites to find lower priced retailers.
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 20 Jan 26 |
1 |
Wed 21 Jan 26 |
6 |
7 |
| Tue 27 Jan 26 |
1 |
Wed 28 Jan 26 |
6 |
7 |
| Tue 03 Feb 26 |
1 |
Wed 04 Feb 26 |
6 |
7 |
| Tue 10 Feb 26 |
1 |
Wed 11 Feb 26 |
6 |
7 |
| Tue 17 Feb 26 |
1 |
Wed 18 Feb 26 |
6 |
7 |
Source: ÌÇÐÄÔ´´ calculations based on data from Informed Sources.
Monitoring fuel prices following the excise cut and restoration
The ÌÇÐÄÔ´´ 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.
