Drivers were slugged with big increases to the cost of unleaded petrol after prices at Stawell BP twice hit $1.49 a litre in the past two weeks.
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The price hike forced motorists to pay an extra 25 cents a litre at the bowser in an expensive start to 2017.
Stawell resident Karl Meyer said he frequently travelled around the region and the cost for fuel at the Stawell BP was the most expensive he had seen anywhere.
“I have been to Ballarat, Ararat and Halls Gap recently and the Stawell BP price was by far the most expensive,” he said.
“I avoid filling up at BP because it is so consistently expensive, so I just go to Winston Lodge.”
Mr Meyer also said a cheaper option was to drive to and fill up at Halls Gap.
Stawell concreter Doug Armstrong said the increases to petrol prices were a blow for the town and would cut into people’s expenses.
“My business has many heavy vehicles and we travel a fair bit so we are affected by the increases,” he said.
“The worrying thing is that these prices are here to stay after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries said they would be reducing and slowing production on the world market.”
RACV fuel spokesperson Michael Case said he could not remember such an increase in petrol prices in the district.
“This is not a normal increase, it is a very unusual situation and there is no justification for it,” he said.
“The beginning of a fuel cycle always starts with a rapid increase over a day or two and there is a steady decrease of about one to two cents a litre each day across the cycle which could be two or three weeks.”
Mr Case said Australian capital cities would normally experience a 20 to 25 cent increase in fuel costs, but would rarely reach $1.49 a litre.
“Such a sharp rise in fuel costs would normally see petrol prices reach $1.45 a litre at the beginning of a new fuel cycle before steadily decreasing,” he said.
“There has to be something that affects the wholesale price which would be a trigger for the retail price to increase.
“But nothing has happened to the wholesale price that would explain why the retail price has jumped this much.
“A single increase of 25 cents is enormous and there is no reason to explain it.” BP Australia could not comment to the Stawell Times-News about petrol prices.
