Petrol prices jump to record highs in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane

Sydneysiders have emerged from lockdown but new-found freedoms have come with higher costs, with petrol prices soaring to all-time highs.

Sydney broke an unwanted milestone on Monday with its average price for regular unleaded breaching 170 cents per litre overnight – the highest on record.

Melbourne (174.7 cents per litre) and Brisbane (176.6 cents per litre) have also broken the record for highest average prices in those cities.

Road advocacy group NRMA said there was little relief in sight for motorists as prices continue to rise steeply.

“These record prices could not have come at a worse time – just as families are getting out and about the city’s economic activity was meant to be ramping up,” NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said.

The NRMA said Sydney’s average of 170.2 cents per litre came as global oil prices hit seven-year highs, driven by rising demand at the same time that production levels have been kept stubbornly low by oil producing countries.

“With OPEC showing no desire to increase oil production levels, we are now seriously concerned that there is little relief in sight and that is bad news for families and the economy,” Mr Khoury said.

Almost one-quarter of service stations are currently selling regular unleaded for less than 159.5 cents per litre. Alarmingly, 40 per cent of service stations are selling petrol at 181.9 cents per litre.

Average Sydney prices for regular unleaded are expected to peak in the coming days to over 174 cents per litre before slowly falling again.

“These prices are going to hurt family budgets and the importance of doing some research before filling up has never been clearer,” Mr Khoury said.

“The myNRMA app has an 86 cent gap between the cheapest and most expensive service stations.”

Mr Khoury said the gap between the cheapest and most expensive service station in Sydney today is 56 cents per litre – a $31 saving on a full tank of fuel.