I have noticed, particularly lately, that the price differential between ULP and 98 RON has been creeping up in some garages to 20c a litre. I remember back when it first became available in WA (BP Ultimate) the differential was around 6 c per litre. I wrote to FuelWatch about this and here is their reply FYI:

Thank you for your email.

Fuel prices are not regulated in Australia. Pricing is market based, and is not necessarily based on the cost price. As with other retail goods, sellers are free to set their prices and it is not against the law to set a price well above the cost price. FuelWatch does not control or set the price of fuel.

The average difference between 98 RON and ULP in Perth for 2015 was 17.1 cents per litre (cpl), up from an average difference of 10.8 cpl in 2008. This difference has been increasing steadily since, reflecting a sustained increase in the demand for higher octane fuels.

Although ULP still accounts for the majority of petrol sales in Australia, the sales volume of premium fuels has been increasing rapidly. From 2008 to 2013 premium fuel sales increased over 50 per cent across Australia. In addition, retailers have tended towards premium fuels as the source of their fuel related profits.

The difference in price between ULP and PULP/98 RON is unregulated and retailers are free to set their prices and terms of trade. We recommend you focus on the lowest prices overall, not just on the difference in price between the various grades, as sites with a larger difference may be cheaper than sites with a smaller difference.

Ultimately, the power to push fuel prices down is in the hands of consumers. As you are in WA, you have an opportunity which motorists in other states do not have in which you can shop around without driving around and be sure the price on FuelWatch is the price paid. By using FuelWatch to find and reward the most competitive retailer you are best able to flex your consumer muscle.

We hope this information is of help.

Kind regards,
FuelWatch

I would have thought with increased demand and competition, that the price differential would have gone down.....

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No Subarus currently owned

I've noticed this as well, it's now a 19c a litre differential at BP. From an economists point of view you could say that demand for 98 is inelastic I.e. all performance cars require to run it, so BP can push the price up (to a certain degree) and demand will not fall... Resulting of course in fatter margins. If they found that increasing the price resulted in less demand they wouldn't have done it. Best us motorists can do is use fuel watch and fill up on a Monday I.e. bp98 was 115.9 yesterday and 137.9 today (most BP sites)

Collusion is illegal so this has definitely not happened.

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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Bunch of greedy cunts who have us by the balls, someone should get the ACCC involved.

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Beaten up old 98 Gen 2 Liberty, 13.0, stock V3 STI running gear.
07 Transit motor home
69 VF & 70 VG Valiants needing full restoration
Yamaha Zooma 50cc rocket hopefully going with the Transit.

Thing is they don't have us by the balls, as stated in their reply its supply v demand, all you have to do is get a material amount of people to demand not to pay and I guarantee the price will fall and the issue of supply will become non-existent.

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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Being in the Western suburbs I can assure you that we get completely bent over regardless of fuel type.

Today ... $1.18.9 for unleaded all along Stirling including BP Freo.

Getting below a $1 for 91. Yea pigs will fly. I'm certainly not driving to Rocko or the Eastern suburb belt to get lower prices. So yea ... 20% plus premium.

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Liberty GT Spec B tuned 240 HP & 372 Nm at the hubs. "Instead of banning high performance cars - ban low performance drivers"

All the more reason to go e85

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Doing it for all the wagons out there

Or get a company car with a fuel card.

I cannot recal the last time I even checked the price of fuel. I just fill her up and drive. Paying for it is some other monkeys job.

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Doing it for all the wagons out there

nauli is right - when it was just BP, the price of 98 was about 5 to 6c above that of 95.
Then Caltex and Shell entered with their own versions of the Kwinana base fuel, then other brands came in with 98 (United, Puma, etc).
There was competition, then more competition, yet the price margin has increased!

I know this is an age old argument, but are people still swearing by BP98?
Or is everyone giving the other ones a go now?

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Balls.