Why doesn’t autogas follow the same weekly cycle as petrol?
Just like petrol and diesel the retail price of autogas is primarily influenced by local competitive factors. In some capital cities, particularly Melbourne where relatively more LPG is sold, strong competition for market share can lead to discounting. However as for diesel, LPG is a small proportion of a service station’s fuel sales and discounting LPG does not lead to increased fuel sales and shop sales to the same extent as discounting petrol. The wholesale price of LPG is based on the Saudi Aramco Contract Price, shipping, insurance, wharfage and the Australian dollar. At the retail level 10 per cent GST is added (LPG is more expensive to transport than petrol as it is transported in pressurised tanks) as well as small wholesale and retail margins. Excise is currently not applied to LPG however it will be from 1 July 2011 at a rate of 2.5 cents per litre increasing in five equal annual steps to 12.5 cents per litre from 1 July 2015.
