Th fill up now — prices are about to skyrocket.

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s latest petrol industry report, petrol prices in the March quarter were at their lowest levels in 17 years.

The average price in the three months to March was 111 cents per litre. That was 13.4 cents cheaper than the previous quarter and 22.2 cents cheaper than the September quarter 2015.

“Motorists benefited from the lowest quarterly petrol prices in inflation adjusted terms since 1999,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.

“The low petrol prices were due to two main influences: firstly, crude oil prices and international refined petrol prices in inflation adjusted terms fell to lows not seen since 2002 and 2008, respectively.

“Secondly, gross retail margins decreased in the quarter. The ACCC believed that retail margins were unreasonably high in the second half of 2015 and wrote to the major petrol retailers in early February 2016 seeking an explanation for the high retail margins.”

The largest contributors to the 13.4 cents per litre decrease were an 8.3 cents per litre decrease in international crude oil prices, and a 2.6 cents per litre decrease in retail margins.

In Brisbane, prices remained relatively high at 114.8 cents per litre, 4.8 cents higher than the 110 cents per litre average of the four other major cities.

“The high relative retail prices in Brisbane are likely to reflect inadequate competition at the retail level,” the ACCC said. “It is to be hoped that greater price transparency can affect the high petrol prices and profits in Brisbane over coming months.

Meanwhile, prices in Darwin have decreased substantially following the watchdog’s report into the local petrol market. In the year to March 2015, Darwin retail prices were on average 21.3 cents per litre higher than the five largest cities.

In the March 2016 quarter, prices in Darwin were 9.6 cents per litre higher, which “seems much closer to where they should be, based on historical differentials”, the ACCC said.

Mr Sims said the release of a number of petrol price apps during the period would provide more information to consumers and help them find lower prices.

In March, 7-Eleven introduced its Fuel App which allows consumers to view their closest five fuel sites, find the cheapest price and lock in that price for seven days.

GasBuddy, which also launched in March, is a crowdsourcing app that allows motorists to share information about fuel prices in their area. And last month, MotorMouth updated its app to provide motorists with access to real-time petrol price information.

That move came as a result of a settlement with the ACCC and data provider Informed Sources to resolve a case over petrol price information sharing.

‘FILL UP NOW’

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said motorists should fill up as soon as possible, as the current price cycle was nearing its bottom.

“The average in Sydney is $1.14 per litre,” he said. “We think this might go down another cent and then jump for the long weekend. We’re preparing ourselves for six-month highs.

“It will jump considerably and it will do it quickly. Right now the cheapest in Sydney is $1.094. It’ll jump to $1.30 or $1.31 by the end of this week.”

Mr Khoury warned the low prices enjoyed by Australian motorists early this year had largely passed, as Singapore Mogas prices — Australia’s international benchmark — had risen by almost $US18 a barrel since January.

“We did see relatively low prices for the first quarter of this year, largely due to oversupply on the world market and the relatively strong Aussie dollar,” he said.

“While we expect the independents to remain largely competitive in the coming days, we are also bracing ourselves for an increase in average prices so if families can get in a fill up now, they should.”

Over the coming weeks, NSW motorists at least will benefit from the government’s fuel reforms, which will force service stations to publish their prices in real time, he added.

“It will put every service station under the spotlight and will create more competition at a local level,” he said.

MARCH QUARTER AVERAGE PETROL PRICES

• Adelaide 108.5c

• Brisbane 114.8c

• Canberra 120.1c

• Darwin 120.6

• Hobart 122.2

• Melbourne 110.3c

• Perth 113.3c

• Sydney 108.0c

Source: ACCC

frank.chung@news.com.au