Australian petrol prices set to skyrocket

high petrol costs expected

The disruption to supply saw the international oil price shoot up so Australians can shortly expect higher petrol costs.

Attacks on a significant oilfield and a nearby processing plant at the oil-rich Middle Eastern kingdom affected almost 5 per cent of the world’s oil supply. Saudi is the world’s largest oil supplier, and whether its production is influenced, the world oil price jumps nevertheless.

Sure enough, when markets opened, the purchase price of oil shot up 20 per cent, before relaxing slightly but still settling about 10 per cent above where it had been.

The raw oil cost is just about half of the price we pay at the pump, though. Our gasoline prices are also dependent on retail and wholesale margins, and taxation.

Australian gas prices were already rising before the recent explosions in Saudi Arabia.