Petrol prices are again soaring despite a fall in the price of crude overseas. This time the excuse is that refineries in the US are doing annual maintenance at the same time as the summer " driving season " is putting Americans on the road and driving up demand.
The real reason is price gouging by the oil companies. There have been repeated calls for the ACCC to be given real teeth to go toe to toe with these bandits, but those requests have fallen on deaf ears. Both sides of politics seem afraid of the oil companies.
Another burr under the saddle cloth is the feet dragging by the oil companies in introducing E10 - a ten percent blend of ethanol added to petrol. E10 is available at an independent franchise chain and a very few selected Caltex sites, but it is a fact that two giant food retailers - Coles and Woolworths - have cornered over eighty percent of petrol sales by offering fuel discounts to those making grocery purchases in their stores.
It does not take Einstein to calaculate that if Coles and Woolworths offered E10 to their customers then a ten percent decrease in the amount of petrol needed to eighty percent of the Australian market would be a significant drop in Australian crude oil comsumption.
It is time that the Australian government got tough with the oil companies - and put pressure on both Coles and Woolworths - which are Australian owned and operated companies - to ensure that E10 is available at all outlets selling petrol.
A ten percent drop in the consumption of crude is possible without modifying car engines or reducing the number of cars on the road. It could be achieved by the simplicity of a law change. The pen to achieve that needs to be put to paper - promptly !
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