Australian petrol retailers accused of price gouging over rising fuel costs amid Iran war
Sydney motorists are paying up to 25 cents more for a litre of petrol now than they were before the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, as motoring groups accuse retailers of using the conflict as an excuse to gouge their customers,After Jim Chalmers instructed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to keep an eye out for profiteering behaviour, a spokesperson for the watchdog said it had “observed average retail regular unleaded petrol prices in several cities moving higher over the last few days”,Motoring groups NRMA and RACQ have already accused retailers of price gouging, amid reports of long queues at some service stations as motorists rush to fill up before the surge in global crude oil prices feeds through to the bowser,It comes as Australians face the prospect of another interest rate hike, with Reserve Bank governor Michelle bullock warning there was a “live” chance of an increase this month as the global oil price spike adds to already high inflation,The roughly 15% jump in global oil prices since the start of the US-Israeli missile strikes should take seven to 10 days to begin to be reflected in the cost of fuel at Australian service stations, according to industry estimates.
Changes in international benchmark fuel prices, such as Singapore unleaded petrol and diesel prices, can take around two weeks to work their way through service stations in the major cities, and longer in the regions, according to the Australian Institute of Petroleum.Yet average petrol prices in Australian city suburbs jumped almost immediately, including an 8.4c rise in average Brisbane prices since Friday, and a 7.5c average increase in Melbourne, according to Guardian Australia’s analysis of data from petrol tracking website Motormouth.Peter Khoury, an NRMA spokesperson, said the petrol price rises in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane were striking because they happened at a time when they should have been lower on a regular cycle.
“It’s not normal – what’s happened in the Middle East has affected prices almost immediately,” Khoury said.“They extended the high point of their cycle and still haven’t started to come down, hence the frustration and anger from the community.“And when you have 50% of service stations charging $2.19 or more [per litre of unleaded], then there is something wrong with prices in those cities.”Sign up: AU Breaking News emailKhoury urged the ACCC to name and shame any retailers it found were profiteering, in the wake of Chalmers sending a letter to the regulator telling it to investigate any evidence of price gouging.
An ACCC spokesperson said that fuel prices were “determined by the market”,“However, any petrol retailer that makes false or misleading statements to consumers about the reasons their prices have increased would be in breach of the Australian consumer law,” they said,“Since mid-February average wholesale petrol prices across the five largest cities have increased by around 8 cents per litre,”Belinda Allen, head of Australian economics at the Commonwealth Bank, said the jump in international oil prices, if sustained, would add 0,1 percentage points to inflation per quarter.
That may be a “marginal” impact, but “this time around inflation is already too high,” Allen said,
Rachel Reeves should scrap the North Sea windfall tax now
The chancellor’s failure to reform or remove the energy profits levy (EPL) – AKA the North Sea windfall tax – in her spring forecast was a case of “political expediency and more to do with putting one byelection result before the economic needs of the country”. Who said that? Some Tory or Reform politician being opportunist as war in Iran puts the UK’s energy import dependency in the spotlight?Actually, no, it was the general secretary of the GMB union, Gary Smith, on Wednesday, demonstrating once again that views on the North Sea oil and gas do not fit neatly into a left-right divide. He has been making the principled case for an orderly transition in energy for ages, warning that decarbonising via deindustrialising costs jobs and will end up pushing voters rightwards.As it happens, one suspects Rachel Reeves’ silence on the EPL in her statement – despite heavy Westminster rumours that something was in the offing – was probably also motivated by war in Iran and spikes in the prices of oil and gas. It is harder, politically speaking, to reform a windfall tax if there is a chance that windfall conditions are returning
How will war in the Middle East affect your finances?
The war in the Middle East is thousands of miles away, but gyrations in financial markets and surging energy prices threaten a new cost of living crisis in the UK.Here is how it could affect your finances.Mortgage holders benefited from cheaper home loans in recent months after the Bank of England cut interest rates four times in 2025 to bring the base rate down to 3.75%. But that could be about to change
South West Water admits criminal offence over Devon parasite outbreak
A major utility company has admitted supplying water unfit for human consumption after a parasite outbreak in Devon made almost 150 people sick.South West Water (SWW) pleaded guilty to the criminal offence relating to the cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Brixham, Devon, which affected 2,500 homes.Almost 150 cases of illness were confirmed in spring 2024, with some people needing hospital treatment, and many residents say the impacts of the outbreak are still being felt.During an hour-long hearing at Exeter magistrates court, the company pleaded guilty to an offence under the Water Industry Act 1991. It will be sentenced in June and faces a fine of hundreds of thousands of pounds
UK motor fuel prices rise since Middle East conflict began, and energy bills could jump 10% in July – as it happened
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.The dust is settling after Rachel Reeves’s spring forecast statement yesterday, which showed that growth will be weaker than hoped this year while unemployment will be higher.While the chancellor claimed the UK could ‘beat the forecasts again’, economists are concerned that the ongoing Middle East crisis will hurt the economy, and household finances, badly.The Resolution Foundation have just released their overnight analysis of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast.The good news? The UK is set for a “decent”, one-off increase in living standards this year, and a bumper rise for lower-income families
War in Middle East ‘could wipe out growth in UK living standards’
The Middle East crisis could trigger an energy price shock that more than wipes out the £300 rise in living standards a typical working-age household could otherwise expect this year, a leading thinktank has warned.The Resolution Foundation said a “decent” one-off increase in average living standards in 2026 and a bumper rise for lower-income households could be reversed by rising oil and gas prices as the Iran conflict disrupts supplies.However, if the recent jump in energy prices persists, the foundation said all the gains could be wiped out.While the effect may not be as large as the increase caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which sent the cost of food, oil and gas soaring, a rise this year in oil and gas prices could add a percentage point to UK inflation and £500 on typical annual energy bills, it said.The UK’s reliance on gas from the Middle East makes it especially vulnerable to an effective blockade of the strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s liquid natural gas is transported
European stock markets rally after report of ‘secret outreach’ by Iran to try to end war
European stock markets have rallied on a report claiming Iran is engaging in a “secret outreach” to end the war in the Middle East, after several days of heavy losses on indices around the world.The New York Times reported that a day after the attacks began, operatives from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence indirectly contacted the CIA with an offer to discuss terms for ending the conflict.Officials briefed on the backchanneling are, however, sceptical – at least in the short-term – that either the Trump administration or Iran is really ready for an off-ramp, the report said. There are also questions over whether any Iranian officials could negotiate a ceasefire agreement, as Israeli strikes have taken out many senior figures.The report helped push up the UK’s FTSE 100 share index by nearly 70 points, or 0
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