Petrol to rise closer to $1 a litre

Friday 3 March 2000

Victorian motorists may soon be paying close to $1 a litre for petrol after two months of prices generally above 80 cents a litre.

Since prices went up in the latest hike before Christmas, Melbourne prices have hovered between 78 cents and 85 cents a litre for unleaded petrol.

But in country areas, prices are well beyond 90 cents, with the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce reporting the most expensive fuel in the border city of Wodonga and at Cann River in East Gippsland.

In both centres, unleaded petrol was 91.9 cents a litre on Wednesday with leaded 94.9 at Cann River.

At city pumps, a litre of unleaded fuel was between 82.5 and 83.9 cents.

In Adelaide yesterday prices ranged from 87 to 89 cents a litre. A Royal Automobile Association spokesman blamed rising petrol prices on increases in oil prices on the world market.

In the New South Wales outback town of Wilcannia, 1000 kilometres from Sydney, leaded petrol is selling at 99.9 cents a litre, because the pump dials won't go as far as $1.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/20000303/A51222-2000Mar2.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 02, 2000