Petrol Prices in Australia’s Big Cities Continue to Rise

Petrol prices in Australia’s big cities continue to rise

CANBERRA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) — Petrol prices have reached as high as 1.39 Australian dollars (1.07 US dollars) in some Australia’s big cities and consumers are being warned to expect prices to continue to rise.

In Sydney, Australia’s largest city and capital of the state of New South Wales (NSW), petrol prices have hit a high of 1.39 dollars a liter Tuesday, with average prices standing at 1.29 dollars (0.988 US dollars) compared with an average of 1.25 dollars last week, Australian Associated Press reported.

The same level of petrol prices were also reported in suburban Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city and capital city of the state of Victoria.

NSW Service Stations Association Chief Executive Ron Bowden warned motorists to brace for a hike, saying the top prices would be felt across the state as early as Wednesday.

“I understand that the Melbourne market moved today and it’s currently up around 139.9 cents a liter,” Bowden was quoted as saying.

“The Sydney market appears not to have moved so far,” he said.

Sydney would “absolutely” follow Melbourne to the 139.9 cents a liter mark which was expected to be seen at multiple petrol stations this week, he said.

He said “opportunism” was driving the market as oil companies raised prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and its impact on refinery capacity in the Gulf of Mexico.

He called on the Australian federal government to step in and regulate the industry or motorists would face further hikes.