WHERE DO YOU GET CHEAP PETROL?

With the long weekend approaching, we all want to go on a road trip. Not driving away for the long weekend is akin to sinning, but we know how difficult a road trip can get on the pocket, with petrol prices burning through the roof. Here we give you a crash course on how Australia’s various cities and suburbs compare with one another when it comes to petrol prices.
Analysis was done on Comparethemarket.com.au, where unleaded petrol prices in Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane were measured across the 31-day period from August 26 to September 27.
The most expensive city turned out to be Birsbane (144.3 cents per litre), closely followed by Perth (144.2), Adelaide (140.6) and Sydney (140.5).
The winner by far was Melbourne, who coasted in as the winner at 139.5 cents per litre, a full 4.8 cents cheaper than Brisbane.
The study also looked at price differentials within the same city: the difference between the highest price and the lowest price of petrol within the suburbs of the same city. A 6.8-cent-difference between the cheapest suburb, Hurstville (138.5 cents), and Eastern Suburbs (145 cents) meant that Sydney had the highest price differential among the studied cities.
In Melbourne, Frankston and Cranbourne were the cheapest areas to buy petrol at 137.7 cents.
Abigail Koch, spokeswoman for Comparethemarket.com.au, had some advice for motorists looking to capitalise on price fluctuations and saving money. She said that petrol stations generally follow a price cycle of 10 to 22 days, so motorists should try and fill up at the lowest point. If you have to get petrol at the top of the cycle, don’t fill up. Just top up.