Petrol price may hit $2 a litre
Petrol prices are predicted to soar as high as two dollars.
Motorists should prepare for petrol prices to remain above $1.50 a litre as the world oil price continues its climb, amid predictions they could hit $2.
The average price nationally for a litre of petrol was $1.47 last week, but Asian benchmark refining prices have already moved higher since Monday, meaning motorists would soon be slugged extra at the bowser.
In a grim warning to the world, Goldman Sachs said, in a note to clients that oil prices could soon reach $US200 a barrel, a price that would send Australian petrol prices to $2 a litre.
BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers last night added that global oil supply would continue to be constrained because the best new deposits were nearly all located in politically sensitive countries. “I can’t see any scenario where strong oil prices are not here to stay,” Mr Kloppers said.
A spokesman for Caltex said there was not much Australian retail sellers of petrol could do while Singapore prices were high. Economists suggested that households needed to adjust spending patterns to cope with the higher motoring costs.
Craig James of CommSec said: “The tipping point now for consumers to again adjust their behaviour is $1.50 a litre.”
The rule of thumb is that for every $US 1 rise in the price of a barrel of oil, the increase at the pump is 1c a litre.
The rising petrol price also adds to the inflationary woes for the Reserve Bank of Australia, particularly as the higher costs flow through to food prices.
Is it getting to the point now that you are having to adjust your lifestyle to allow for increasing petrol prices?