Diesel prices have not decreased to the same extent, but they have reduced from the peak on April 9 when diesel cost 328.4 cents a litre. Now it is 260 cents.<\/p>\n
In the US, the average price of gasoline before the war with Iran was about 87 US cents a litre, according to price aggregator Global Petrol Prices.<\/p>\n
But now, prices are approaching 117 US cents a litre, the highest level seen in nearly four years.<\/p>\n
Before the US-Israeli war on Iran, the average price of diesel was 141.35 cents a litre ($US3.80 a gallon). By the end of April, it sat at 196.11 cents ($US5.30 a gallon).<\/p>\n
The US states where prices have risen the most are California, Washington, Hawaii, and Oregon.<\/p>\n
What experts say about the diverging gap<\/p>\n
University of Sydney supply chain expert Ben Fahimnia said Australian petrol prices moved in cycles, with sharp peaks followed by a slow discounting phase.<\/p>\n
“Many cities have recently been in this downward phase, which means prices at the pump can fall even when upstream cost pressures are building,” he said.<\/p>\n
“This behaviour is largely driven by local competitive dynamics rather than the immediate transmission of input cost changes to retail prices.”<\/p>\n
Economist Peter Robertson said the US had been shielded from the initial price shock because it is one of the world’s leading oil producers, while Australia largely relied on imported fuel.<\/p>\n
“So when the crisis first broke out, there was a big reaction in Australia, and prices were tied into the Singapore refineries, Malaysia refineries and Asia markets more generally,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The concern wasn’t there in the United States. They weren’t reliant on the oil imports. And so you didn’t get a big price spike in the US the way we did in Australia.”<\/p>\n
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Ampol’s Lytton Refinery in Brisbane is one of only two active refineries in Australia. (AAP: Darren England)<\/p>\n
Lurion De Mello, from Macquarie University’s Transforming Energy Markets Centre, said storage capacity in the US also had stopped fuel prices from spiking, but that was beginning to change.<\/p>\n
“I think the supply is getting tight even for the biggest world exporter, and that’s putting pressure on fuel prices over there to go up,” Dr De Mello said.<\/p>\n
University of Sydney associate professor David Ubilava said the fuel excise reduction had also helped curb petrol prices in Australia.<\/p>\n
“Why we are seemingly moving in the opposite direction of the US is that we are on this downward sloping part of the cycle,” Dr Ubilava said.<\/p>\n
“In the US, we are pretty much seeing the effect of this war and then no mitigation of it due to tax rate changes.”<\/p>\n
What’s next for fuel prices?<\/p>\n
Retail fuel prices in Australia are linked to refined product benchmarks such as Singapore Mogas 95, according to Professor Fahimnia.<\/p>\n