1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,680
Speaker 1: Fuel prices have taken us by surprise because I think

2
00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:05,720
Speaker 1: we thought they were going to stay low for a while.

3
00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:09,080
Speaker 1: Doctor Roberto our gleras and energy economist from the Curtain

4
00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:12,160
Speaker 1: University Oil and Gas Innovation Center, enjoins us now to

5
00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:16,480
Speaker 1: help us understand what's going on. Doctor Roberto, Hello, Hi,

6
00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,919
Speaker 1: good morning now. Fuel prices set to hit two dollars

7
00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,880
Speaker 1: a liter again today, despite the government recently cutting the

8
00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:27,800
Speaker 1: fuel excise for six months. So why are they back

9
00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:29,080
Speaker 1: up to that level again?

10
00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:32,479
Speaker 2: Yeah? The reason is the price of oil is seeing

11
00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,640
Speaker 2: an upward push again and it's taking petrol with it.

12
00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:39,200
Speaker 2: So of course the oil market is global. Countries around

13
00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,080
Speaker 2: the world exchanges this commodity every day, so when supply

14
00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:46,120
Speaker 2: gets knocked out of one region, prices go up everywhere

15
00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,599
Speaker 2: for oil and for oil derived products like petrol.

16
00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,000
Speaker 1: So what could it be If we didn't have the

17
00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,360
Speaker 1: fuel excise sum cut, it would.

18
00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,560
Speaker 2: Be much higher. The reason is that a lot of

19
00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:04,960
Speaker 2: import of oil and product are still rejecting Russian exports

20
00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,320
Speaker 2: of course, in protest of everything that's going on, and

21
00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,840
Speaker 2: there's official sanctions as well from Australia, from the UK,

22
00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:16,520
Speaker 2: from US and Canada. There's also factors at home. Our

23
00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:20,279
Speaker 2: currency has been weakening lately, meaning that importers of fuel

24
00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,240
Speaker 2: have to pay more Australian dollars for these products that

25
00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,120
Speaker 2: are initially priced in US dollars, and that ends up

26
00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:28,400
Speaker 2: getting passed down to us the drivers.

27
00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:30,720
Speaker 3: ROBERTA, is it true that there's still some surveys in

28
00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:32,560
Speaker 3: Perth that you've Yeah, I'm loved we're talking about huma

29
00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,280
Speaker 3: as being two dollars nineteen, but there's some servos still

30
00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,520
Speaker 3: in the dollar civities doll writes Mark today.

31
00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:40,959
Speaker 2: Yeah, there are, so it's important to look around. I mean,

32
00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,039
Speaker 2: these companies are free to determine their own prices, but

33
00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,720
Speaker 2: it's not that competitive. There aren't many of them. So

34
00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,120
Speaker 2: somehow over time that they've they've learned to sort of

35
00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:56,440
Speaker 2: implicitly cooperate. They can see each other's prices, Yeah, and

36
00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:02,440
Speaker 2: can determine that optimal profit strategy of setting high prices

37
00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,240
Speaker 2: and then out competing each other over the next two

38
00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:06,600
Speaker 2: weeks and then resetting again.

39
00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,520
Speaker 1: Just on the basis of a normal regular person driving

40
00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,519
Speaker 1: around looking at their price boards. I've always wondered why

41
00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,800
Speaker 1: such a difference between some of the fuel outlets.

42
00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, I mean there are individual businesses so

43
00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:27,840
Speaker 2: as they can observe what's going on, and over time,

44
00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:31,160
Speaker 2: you know they can they notice it's it's it's not

45
00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,680
Speaker 2: official cooperation, but it's because it's not allowed, but it's

46
00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,079
Speaker 2: kind of an implicit collusion.

47
00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:42,920
Speaker 1: Right, Okay, okay, we just wanted to ask you one

48
00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,960
Speaker 1: more question really, because as an energy economist, what would

49
00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,760
Speaker 1: be your number one tip for conserving fuel? I mean,

50
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,440
Speaker 1: is it keeping your tires pumped up? Is it keeping

51
00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:55,200
Speaker 1: your car free of excess weight?

52
00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,240
Speaker 2: What is it of the above? But it's tough because

53
00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:00,960
Speaker 2: this is a car drivers and for to have a

54
00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,680
Speaker 2: decent quality of life, we need that vehicle. Some people

55
00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,639
Speaker 2: also have the ability to substitute to walk or take

56
00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:10,440
Speaker 2: the train or bicycle, but for many they rely on

57
00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:15,000
Speaker 2: the vehicle. It's so fuel is really indispensable in our

58
00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:19,359
Speaker 2: lives and that's that's the problem. And importantly, again as

59
00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,400
Speaker 2: we were saying earlier, there is a wide range of

60
00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,160
Speaker 2: prices around town. So that's the number one tip.

61
00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:27,000
Speaker 1: Shop around the number one tip.

62
00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,239
Speaker 3: And then you're right, docket is a sprawling city. President

63
00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:33,160
Speaker 3: so the cast crucial Doctor Roberto Aguiley are joining us

64
00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:33,600
Speaker 3: this morning.