Bowser blues

At the weekend of November 23, the average unleaded price for petrol in Dubbo was $1.44 per litre, while the average diesel price was $1.49.

Mr Blight said across all of regional Australia, petrol stations are inflating their prices.

"In Dubbo petrol prices are about $1.48, $1.49, the price at the depot in Sydney is $1.24. That's 24 cents difference," he said.

The Australian Institute of Petroleum calculated that on November 23, the wholesale price of petrol from Singapore was around 64 cents per litre.

Added to the wholesale price are shipping costs, taxes- including the fuel excise of 38 cents per litre and GST- and the petrol stations' markup.

"If you go from a freight and profit margin of 10c, which is excessive... we should be at about $1.34 not $1.48," Mr Blight said.

In Orange the average unleaded price for petrol at the weekend of November 23 was $1.47 and in Bathurst it was $1.46.

The numbers are higher further west.

On the same weekend the average unleaded petrol price for Parkes was $1.57 and Broken Hill recorded an average of $1.52.

Mr Blight said the higher prices are due to a lack of competition.

"You're a target. They don't have to worry about competition. Can you take the train or the bus to work? People in regional areas drive longer hours, they have heavier vehicles," he said.

"They just take advantage. They charge what they want because we have no choice."

However, Mr Blight said petrol prices are set to decrease.

"We're heading to a stage where there's a lot of talk around the world where fuel prices should drop. If the Australian dollar remains steady we should see cheaper fuel going into Christmas.

"They're ripping us off now but they'll continue to rip us off if prices don't come down."

The most expensive petrol prices across NSW was recorded at Tumut with an average of $1.60 per litre, while the cheapest was Goulburn at $1.41.