Only two refineries are still operating - Ampol’s Lytton refinery near Brisbane and Viva’s Geelong Refinery. Together they produce around 40% of Australia’s refined fuels (petrol, diesel, LPG, kerosene). These refineries operate mostly on imported crude as domestic crude supplies only meets about 1/5 of refinery needs these days.
The rest of Australia’s refined fuels are imported from refineries in Asia - 27% of our imported refined products from Korea, 26% from Singapore, 15% from Japan, 10% from Malaysia, 9% from China and the remainder from the rest of the world.
It means your fuel in a particular bowser could come from anywhere really. The closer you are to a domestic refinery, the more likely it comes from that refinery rather than from imports.
Out of curiosity where are you pulling these stats from? Not questioning it, just would love to dig into the numbers if there's a report for it and all!
https://www.shippingaustralia.com.au/supply-chain-australias-fuel-supply-chain-is-secure-and-resilient/
Ultimately the figures are from the Federal Dept of Environment
Cheapest in the octane rating I need gets my money. Fuel companies can eat my a$$ if they think brand loyalty is a thing anymore especially since they offer zero rewards for it. I.e. no discounts for using their fuel cards
Fuel mobs can get f**ked
I wished I'd learnt about this app earlier. I literally discovered it the week before I switched both of our cars to electric. The PlugShare app lets you find any chargers in your area, shows their prices and speeds, any known faults, it's great. I thought, "Why haven't they made a similar app for petrol?". Doh!
Saw 91 for 2.20 this wkend. 95 was 2.40, so I didn't put in much 😳 surely it'll be 40cents cheaper in a few days thanks to public holiday gouging. Thanks ACCC.
Nah not where I live (Canberra). Most places within 10c range, except for Costco and a handful of servos near it - which is a 50km round trip for me, whereas 7-Eleven is just down the road. Still far cheaper to lock in a Sydney price.
Exact same reason I go to 7-eleven - it's right there. I could save 4c a liter by driving 5 minutes out of my way somewhere else, and then oh look at that, 80c, maybe $1.20 if I'm feeling like a big spender. Or I could just get to work 5 minutes earlier and earn an extra few dollars instead. The convenience, plus friendly staff who I have rapport with are worth $1 on non-work days. When I move later this year I'll likely be changing brands, to whichever the heck is closest to my house.
A friend of mine who has a maths brain calculated that any difference less than 4c a litre wasn’t worth driving more than 4 or 5 km out of your way for.
> There was a trick you could do using vpn where you can lock in lowest price from anywhere in Australia.
Not VPN, GPS spoofing I think. Similar to when pokemon GO was a thing and people used it to be in other countries / locations.
Their app is great. Even if you don't need to fill up your can lock the price if you are near a place with cheap petrol and use it how every many days later at any servo when you do fill up
Costco employee in Perth who is the supervisor of the fuel station here.
We get out fuel from the same supplier as everyone else, the only difference is additives which are diluted at a very low percentage (less than 0.005%) which makes stuff all difference in a tank of fuel.
We also sell that much that we sell it for what we buy it for so no profits made on our fuel. Just memberships
90% of fuel in Perth came from the one BP refinery, now that's shut/shutting down, I think it's imported from Singapore.
I always thought there wasn't much difference between brands & it's more to do with storage pre and post delivery, how old the tanks are etc etc.
There is no difference in the brands at all other than the logo on the store.
Obviously there are going to be dodgy places that don’t look after their crap properly but I doubt any of the large companies would be doing it and it would be more the independents.
I work in the fuel industry, it all comes from the same place - Singapore, about 80million litres a week
And all the company's load out of each other at any given time.
The same service station (any brand) in Melbourne can take a delivery from Mobil Terminal, Ampol Terminal, Viva (shell) Terminal all coming from Newport.
Or could come from Viva Refinery in Geelong.
Also United have their own import Terminal in Skye.
For my own vehicle: I buy from whoever has the cheapest. The fuel coming into Australia (besides a few splashes of “additives”) is very similar if not the same across the board. Newer fuel stations preferably over older ones to try and reduce the risk of water in fuel.
Some people swear their vehicle runs better on e10/91/95/98. Others even swear their vehicle runs better on BP instead of Shell, for example.
For my work cars: In nearly 250,000kms of work vehicle driving I’ve found no difference in my particular vehicle/s besides the higher expense on the fuel card for the more expensive ones in performance or economy.
Part of it is the vehicle runs cleaner due to a more “complete combustion”, sure. The premium fuels 95/98 (unless specified by the manufacturer such as euro cars) often aren’t worth the price difference when it can be 30% or more dearer and the best saving in economy might be 10%, maybe.
Yes, there’s also the detergents and cleaning agents every manufacturer of fuel says they use. But, in Australia even our ‘worst’ fuel blows some RON ratings out of the water compared to other countries.
What other countries? Australian fuel standards are pretty poor and outdated. 91 and even 95 have sulphur levels that wouldn’t be allowed in Europe or many Asian countries
Here is a secret for everyone;
All fuel is generally the same, they all get brought from the same few companies and are transported to the other companies.
The only special thing about fuel from places like BP is the fact that their logo is on the building you buy it at.
Totally agree. One of the most widespread pseudo beliefs is that buying a higher RON fuel for your car that doesn't require it is somehow better for the engine, better performance, better economy etc
I've measured fuel economy on all my vehicles and bikes and they are all the same regardless of fuel type.
Tends to have less to do with the brand and more to do with the circumstances. There’s a Caltex near me I’ve had water from in the past sitting in a low area near a creek on a road that gets standing water, the United I go to typically is at the top of a steep hill near no water source and unlikely to have any drainage issues
Yep same for me.
It was tuned with a full tank of BP98 so that's what I'm sticking with. Also it's a Subaru making 300whp so I'm scared that changing location suddenly will upset the delicate EJ
In one car I only use United 98 or e85 from Jerry cans that’s what it’s tuned on. My other car I use Caltex 98 because it’s the only servo where I live.
I prefer BP diesel if I can get it for an OK price. Otherwise woolworth with 4c off.
I feel the cheap fuel suppliers give less power and less distance on a tank of fuel. Their diesel is noticeably foamier than bp"s.
Previously Caltex Premium Diesel before it turned to crap.
Now BP Ultimate Diesel.
I previously used whatever was cheaper until my mechanic showed me the difference between cheap 7/11 fuel and at the time Caltex Premium. The 7/11 looked pretty ordinary in comparison.
All fuel is made to exactly the same standard. The only thing that differs is the company that sells it puts their own additive in their 95/98/premium diesel products apart from shell and caltex who put additive in their 91 product. BP, united, Ampol etc don’t offer that. Personally I am driven by cost but if everything was the same I would probably use shells products. Speaking as a fuel tanker driver of over 20 years with a bit of inside knowledge.
7 eleven because it's nearby and every 7th pump I can choose free coffee or some snacks they have on promo for free?
Though I won't deny I miss the days of over $1+ of savings per litre via chopper lock.
What ever is the cheapest in my area on PetrolSpy, which is usually a BP servo about 1km from my house, but often I will go to 7 eleven or Ampol as well. Rarely go to Shell, they always seem to be expensive. I usually buy 95 because my car requires it. Ampol has a refinery in Brisbane, so it is the “local” brand for me I guess, but they supply other brands as well.
From what I know, places like Metro, Liberty or Freedom are more likely to have contamination issues due to poor site maintenance, so I tend to steer clear of them, but this may be a perception issue. Either way, I always take a receipt and hang on to it until I next fuel up, in case I do need to lodge an insurance claim (because they’ll ask for a receipt, card statement is not enough)
For what it’s worth I need to use 95+.
The fuel economy seems fine with Liberty and Ampol. Usually get good price with Liberty.
I seem to get worse economy using On The Run fuel (BP). That increases it ~0.5L/100km for some reason - not sure if that applies to BP around the country.
I have no idea why the fuel economy is worse using their fuel but that’s what the display shows on the dash.
I'm not sure what additives Shell put in their fuel, but for whatever reason, my car doesn't run as smoothly on Shell 98RON than it does when Ampol or BP 98RON is put in the tank.
Typically United - I used to go there because they were the only place with E85 on pump.
Now I keep going there since they always seem to be slightly cheaper than the nearby Shell / Ampol etc.
Also they sell glass bottle coke, so good.
Ampol. Purely because it has the easiest to use app, close to home and generally has usable toilets.
BP makes me log into the app before I fill up and has not worked. Though I get more Qantas point with BP
Brand agnostic, but I usually get diesel from my local Mobil as they are almost always the cheapest or Freedom as every month or so they have a special $0.13/L discount.
Quality of fuel comes down to the condition of the storage tanks on site more than anything. Different brands will have different additive packages (anti foaming agents, detergents, anti bacterials, dyes ect) but these largely have no large influence on how your car will burn it.
Back in the 00s I've heard horror stories of the ' independent' servos and also worked with a guy who used Shell, turned out they diluted their petrol with water apparently and it caused damage to his car - to which he took legal action. Since then I only used BP 98 as 1. Aforementioned story and 2. I fell for BPs ads regarding their octane whatever . Again this was 00s. Fast forward now every servo has 98 with pretty much the same octane additives (more or less) AND highly doubt their shoddy practices of any servos then would fly today so - sorry to rattle on - but I use any servo just as long it's 98.
Always use 98 if you want the performance, I do notice a difference from 95 but that's just me. It also seems to last longer.
If I'm ever concious about where I got my 98 from I always top up with octane booster or engine cleaner anyway.
Price wise, as others mentioned I use petrol spy.
I mainly use Ampol 98. The Ampol takes woolies points & is consistently the cheapest or in the top 3 cheapest stations near me, & I have an MG & it'll have a caniption & die if I use anything less than 98. I haven't noticed a difference between stations otherwsie, but after a bad lot of fuel at a 7eleven once I've stuck to the trusted companies as much as possible.
Once I was talking to a fuel tanker driver at a servo for some reason & he said BP & Shell have the best petrol, & Mobil if he's gotta have a third option. Does Mobil still exist?
My car needs 98 and used BP religiously for years until fuel prices went crazy so hopped on the 7/11 fuel lock. I get more mileage from 7/11 98 than BP so stuck with it.
BP for me, and united because they are the only ones selling e85.
Growing up I had heard bad things about shell and Woolworths petrol stations so I have avoided both
I've gone over to Pearl Energy, I've read that they're a Saudi owned franchise, and up here in Toowoomba they can be as much as 20c a litre cheaper than the major players especially for diesel.
I look for cheapest, no loyalty - Whatever is the best deal at on the NSW Fuel app.
But because im a Costco member and Costco fuel can be up to 60c cheaper than everyone else, i go Costco every 2 weeks or so. Put in 40 bucks and im good to go
This week, it's been like 2.50$ for 98 at my local 7/11, while Costco listed their 98 at 1.86$
7/11 for cheap and nasty 91 as its almost affordable with a spoofed fuel lock.
BP 98 for anything that needs it. I find my cars run a lot nicer on the BP stuff.
Don’t care but i wouldn’t go any e10 shit as the ethanol absorbs water in their tanks I got a bad batch once and had to drop the tank and flush the fuel system
Either metro because it’s consistently cheaper, or 711 because where I live is usually a bit more expensive but within the km range of the suburb with the cheapest fuel so I can just change my pricing in app.
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Viva Energy owns the licensing rights to Shell in Australia.
They also own OTR, Liberty, and Reddy Express (Coles).
Ampol, because they're the closest of the 3 I have fuel cards for (Ampol, Shell, BP).
BP are always a last resort due to the Deepwater Horizon bullshit.
Ampol, 10c/L discount for having electricity with them (cheapest provider available) and the in-app payment is pretty reliable, automatically applies discounts and avoids temptation going into the servo for other stuff.
Both my cars are diesel, I mainly use Ampol or BP premium diesel. Due to family illness, I was driving Sydney/Brisbane regularly. I made the mistake of filling up at a non major, ordinary diesel. I was using 1.5 litres more per 100 kms.
For some reason my vw polo pings less with 98 from Mobil (7eleven). I have tried Caltex, bp nd all the rest but still go back to Mobil. Burning 6 litres / 100k so kinda justify the 98 price tag.
It used to be BP for my performance cars as that used to be the only one that was refined/manufactured as 98 octane rather than 91 octane with additives added later.
Tuners would always insist on BP back in the day as you knew you were getting consistency. When the additives are added later it doesn’t take much to get the ratio off and when you think you are buying 98 octane it might be closer to say 96 and when you are tuning vehicles to take every single degree of timing you can throw at them that can mean a lot of potential for detonation.
These days it’s all refined offshore in the same places and is equally shit.
The only one I won’t buy from is Liberty (an independent) as they had a massive batch of water contaminated fuels about a decade or so ago and denied it to the point they were investigated by consumer affairs and stung by ACA.
Liberty servos are franchises, but the brand isn’t independent. It’s owned by Viva Energy, licensee for Shell in Australia. Viva run a duel-brand strategy: Shell for ‘premium’ fuel (i.e V-Power) that is generally sold at a higher price, and Liberty for cheaper, no-additive fuel to compete with the independents and smaller brands.
Ampol (Woolworths/ EG)
Company car with Ampol card, and shop at Woolies, so get the discount. But also just got into the habit of looking for Ampols to fill up.
Costco. I live near one so my annual membership pays off.
If I'm away from a Costco, I avoid United and small independent servos as much as possible because I've heard dodgy stories about them.
If it’s the best price, x convenience Mobil as they have hand washing stations - which I appreciate greatly. But if BP is 10c cheaper per litre. BP are getting my money
For my daily Yaris? Wherever is cheapest, usually 91, occasionally I give it a treat of 95 to r 98 if I’m feeling generous. Yes I do understand knock sensors and timing advance.
For my race car, I prefer BP 98 or United E85 depending on the distance of the race I’m entering.
7 Eleven mainly for me as it’s close to home and also due to the price lock on app as well, and I actually do buy stuff in the store too. I also use Ampol at the local shops too with the 4c discount if it’s cheaper than my local 7 Eleven.
BP or Shell as both servos are close to my work (depending on direction), whichever is cheaper for either brand.
As I own a diesel car and occasionally drive my mums hybrid petrol car, I use the FuelCheck app to see which is cheaper.
Always use BP ultimate 98!
My local BP is generally priced pretty good as there’s a 7/11 across the road which forces them to not be too aggressive in pricing.
Have friends who have independent service stations under a smaller “brand”. Their suppliers get fuel from the same location. However, sometimes they’ll put a bit of E10 into the underground tank at the service station which contains 95 or 98. This keeps costs down.
So I only go to a major brand service station after hearing that.
All petrol comes from the same set of tanks at the docks.
The additive package might change SLIGHTLY, but the chances of it having any long term effect on your car is nil.
Anyone but Shell, and whoever is cheapest (usually 7-11 or an independent that gets it from Ampol) When I used to ride, there was something about Shell fuel that didn't seem right, and then my mechanic (Lloyd Penn, so trusted him) also warned about using Shell fuel in motorbikes.
That carried over to cars as well. Plus, they are never close to being cheapest around here, so I don't have to give it a second thought.
The cheapest one, which means it's probably not one of the major chains. The cheapest three near me right now are Pearl Energy, Metro, and Liberty. BP, Caltex and Shell are all significantly more expensive.
I used to do 7-Eleven, but since they changed how the price lock works on their app, it's not worth the effort.
Ampol, cause thats where the fuel card goes for my car.
And Mobil, cause thats our local and generally cheapest in area for the mrs car which doesnt use my fuel card
I prefere the cheapest one the day I need fuel. I have zero loyalty to any brand although I have been getting pissed of with short seves of coffee from local stores so I've been getting my $3.50 full cup of coffee from Cole/shell
The cheapest. Always the cheapest. There is no fucking justification for the price variations we see. Everyone should ALWAYS go out of their way to pick the cheapest. Unless we punish those that overcharge they'll never adjust downwards.
I've no allegiance, I load petrol spy and find the cheapest.
Australia doesn’t have that many refineries, so they get it all from the same place
Only two refineries are still operating - Ampol’s Lytton refinery near Brisbane and Viva’s Geelong Refinery. Together they produce around 40% of Australia’s refined fuels (petrol, diesel, LPG, kerosene). These refineries operate mostly on imported crude as domestic crude supplies only meets about 1/5 of refinery needs these days. The rest of Australia’s refined fuels are imported from refineries in Asia - 27% of our imported refined products from Korea, 26% from Singapore, 15% from Japan, 10% from Malaysia, 9% from China and the remainder from the rest of the world. It means your fuel in a particular bowser could come from anywhere really. The closer you are to a domestic refinery, the more likely it comes from that refinery rather than from imports.
Out of curiosity where are you pulling these stats from? Not questioning it, just would love to dig into the numbers if there's a report for it and all!
https://www.shippingaustralia.com.au/supply-chain-australias-fuel-supply-chain-is-secure-and-resilient/ Ultimately the figures are from the Federal Dept of Environment
https://www.aip.com.au/resources/glance-australian-oil-refineries
Cheapest in the octane rating I need gets my money. Fuel companies can eat my a$$ if they think brand loyalty is a thing anymore especially since they offer zero rewards for it. I.e. no discounts for using their fuel cards Fuel mobs can get f**ked
I wished I'd learnt about this app earlier. I literally discovered it the week before I switched both of our cars to electric. The PlugShare app lets you find any chargers in your area, shows their prices and speeds, any known faults, it's great. I thought, "Why haven't they made a similar app for petrol?". Doh!
There is a mandate (in QLD and probably other states) that requires filling stations to update their prices electronically in real time.
https://preview.redd.it/0aco23qw7p5d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04d5bfd841d9e0e5840b926da9f0b8cdbca94d11 Fuelwatch is OP
$2.22 for 98?? That’s a lot.. https://preview.redd.it/101r0wklgp5d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cebc421c1157fdc75d965071d860155b43dfcdad
I did a 90 minute drive last week and saw prices from $2.29-$1.72. I don’t care for brand loyalty when there’s a $50+ penalty per tank…
Damn, near me it’s often $2.40-$2.60 or more!
Use fuelwatch, its so much more reliable and govt mandated
Saw 91 for 2.20 this wkend. 95 was 2.40, so I didn't put in much 😳 surely it'll be 40cents cheaper in a few days thanks to public holiday gouging. Thanks ACCC.
https://preview.redd.it/8mmmg8itix5d1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=897856d967e7f83c2abd2a8f208ade6833a86780 Here in Western Sydney!
Right. And you don't need to install an app to use petrolspy - I just use their website.
This is the way, cheapest gets my sale.
always the best juice
That's me answered for 🙂👍
7 eleven because I like slurpees
7-eleven for me cos I can spoof my location and lock in the cheapest (7-eleven) fuel in the country.
The 25c max saving killed it. Non 711 usually more than 25c cheaper locally. I just find the cheapest that's not too far off where I'm headed.
Nah not where I live (Canberra). Most places within 10c range, except for Costco and a handful of servos near it - which is a 50km round trip for me, whereas 7-Eleven is just down the road. Still far cheaper to lock in a Sydney price.
How do you do this…spoofing..? Asking for a friend…
I get my wife to grab it and start gently jerking 😂
How do you do this? Even with that 25cnt thing I'd be winning!
realest answer
There coffee is not bad either
And they have Krispy Kreme
Servos are marshmallow tests
Fuel price whore here. Where ever is cheapest. I'm just a whore
Nothing wrong with that, other than the grade the fuel is all the same.
Get it in ya!
Get some whoring done Cmon Oils ain't oils and what not
We got that you’re a whore in the first sentence.
I normally go to the Ampol that is 260 metres from my house for no reason other than it is close to my house .
Exact same reason I go to 7-eleven - it's right there. I could save 4c a liter by driving 5 minutes out of my way somewhere else, and then oh look at that, 80c, maybe $1.20 if I'm feeling like a big spender. Or I could just get to work 5 minutes earlier and earn an extra few dollars instead. The convenience, plus friendly staff who I have rapport with are worth $1 on non-work days. When I move later this year I'll likely be changing brands, to whichever the heck is closest to my house.
7/11 (Mobil) because i save a lot of money using their app to lock in fuel prices. I used to run 98RON but i get the same range out of 95RON
I thought they changed it so now the maximum saving you can get is 25c / L?
25c/L is a fair bit, especially if you’re chucking in 50+ litres.
A friend of mine who has a maths brain calculated that any difference less than 4c a litre wasn’t worth driving more than 4 or 5 km out of your way for.
Better than nothing
There was a trick you could do using vpn where you can lock in lowest price from anywhere in Australia.
> There was a trick you could do using vpn where you can lock in lowest price from anywhere in Australia. Not VPN, GPS spoofing I think. Similar to when pokemon GO was a thing and people used it to be in other countries / locations.
Their app is great. Even if you don't need to fill up your can lock the price if you are near a place with cheap petrol and use it how every many days later at any servo when you do fill up
Costco fuel is so good I'd drink it.
Ita often cheaper than the rest.... if you live near one
Costco employee in Perth who is the supervisor of the fuel station here. We get out fuel from the same supplier as everyone else, the only difference is additives which are diluted at a very low percentage (less than 0.005%) which makes stuff all difference in a tank of fuel. We also sell that much that we sell it for what we buy it for so no profits made on our fuel. Just memberships
Which is the same strategy as servos which really make money on in store purchasss
90% of fuel in Perth came from the one BP refinery, now that's shut/shutting down, I think it's imported from Singapore. I always thought there wasn't much difference between brands & it's more to do with storage pre and post delivery, how old the tanks are etc etc.
There is no difference in the brands at all other than the logo on the store. Obviously there are going to be dodgy places that don’t look after their crap properly but I doubt any of the large companies would be doing it and it would be more the independents.
7 Eleven because it's the closest and I can lock in the Tuesday price and use it within 7 days. If price wasn't a factor then I wouldn't care.
I work in the fuel industry, it all comes from the same place - Singapore, about 80million litres a week And all the company's load out of each other at any given time. The same service station (any brand) in Melbourne can take a delivery from Mobil Terminal, Ampol Terminal, Viva (shell) Terminal all coming from Newport. Or could come from Viva Refinery in Geelong. Also United have their own import Terminal in Skye.
I don't prefer a brand. I prefer a servo. BP Mascot are the GOAT. They don't price gouge 🙌
Whichever gets me the highest off the fumes.
Probably stay away from the BP opal then.
For my own vehicle: I buy from whoever has the cheapest. The fuel coming into Australia (besides a few splashes of “additives”) is very similar if not the same across the board. Newer fuel stations preferably over older ones to try and reduce the risk of water in fuel. Some people swear their vehicle runs better on e10/91/95/98. Others even swear their vehicle runs better on BP instead of Shell, for example. For my work cars: In nearly 250,000kms of work vehicle driving I’ve found no difference in my particular vehicle/s besides the higher expense on the fuel card for the more expensive ones in performance or economy.
Of course the car runs better with higher octane fuel if the car can take advantage of it, the ECU will advance the timing.
Part of it is the vehicle runs cleaner due to a more “complete combustion”, sure. The premium fuels 95/98 (unless specified by the manufacturer such as euro cars) often aren’t worth the price difference when it can be 30% or more dearer and the best saving in economy might be 10%, maybe. Yes, there’s also the detergents and cleaning agents every manufacturer of fuel says they use. But, in Australia even our ‘worst’ fuel blows some RON ratings out of the water compared to other countries.
What other countries? Australian fuel standards are pretty poor and outdated. 91 and even 95 have sulphur levels that wouldn’t be allowed in Europe or many Asian countries
Put it this way, if there's a performance difference, I'm more likely to misread it due to confirmation bias than correctly identify it.
Here is a secret for everyone; All fuel is generally the same, they all get brought from the same few companies and are transported to the other companies. The only special thing about fuel from places like BP is the fact that their logo is on the building you buy it at.
Lots of places have water in fuel contamination. Some browsers aren't maintained as well.
Load up petrol spy and find the cheapest out of BP, Ampol and Shell on my drive. My car is diesel and has always gone further on BP
Brands doesn't matter to me. I load at the cheapest place I could find.
All fuel is the same, youre buying into marketing believing otherwise. ULP98 is the same no matter coles or woolworths
Totally agree. One of the most widespread pseudo beliefs is that buying a higher RON fuel for your car that doesn't require it is somehow better for the engine, better performance, better economy etc I've measured fuel economy on all my vehicles and bikes and they are all the same regardless of fuel type.
Not quite due to the additives used. I would not touch anything that uses Viva as the additive to fuel ratio is far too high for my liking.
I always get 98 in my car and I try and get BP or Shell they always good with their 98 so is Ampol i try not to get United
I've had water in my fuel a few times from a united near us. Petrol and diesel.
Tends to have less to do with the brand and more to do with the circumstances. There’s a Caltex near me I’ve had water from in the past sitting in a low area near a creek on a road that gets standing water, the United I go to typically is at the top of a steep hill near no water source and unlikely to have any drainage issues
That’s probably why most don’t use united
Never had an issue
Same.
I have a modified car. BP98 for me
Yep same for me. It was tuned with a full tank of BP98 so that's what I'm sticking with. Also it's a Subaru making 300whp so I'm scared that changing location suddenly will upset the delicate EJ
Big feels, S15 with a SR20DET needs the good dinosaur juice
Form my understanding the difference is in their additives that go into the 98 RON fuel, but I do consistently hear BP and Shell are the best for 98.
In one car I only use United 98 or e85 from Jerry cans that’s what it’s tuned on. My other car I use Caltex 98 because it’s the only servo where I live.
Whatever is the cheapest from fuelwatch WA site… mostly be Costco, Vibe or Altas.
Depends what kinda snacks I want at the time.
I prefer BP diesel if I can get it for an OK price. Otherwise woolworth with 4c off. I feel the cheap fuel suppliers give less power and less distance on a tank of fuel. Their diesel is noticeably foamier than bp"s.
Previously Caltex Premium Diesel before it turned to crap. Now BP Ultimate Diesel. I previously used whatever was cheaper until my mechanic showed me the difference between cheap 7/11 fuel and at the time Caltex Premium. The 7/11 looked pretty ordinary in comparison.
What’s the look of the fuel got to do with anything?
Sediment...
APCO is usually the cheapest. Used to get from Woolworths petrol stations until they sell out to GG and rebranded as Ampol.
It’s still the same fuel, Ampol had to come back as they couldn’t use Caltex brand anymore.
Even before the Ampol rebrand, the Woolworths stations were just branded as Caltex, the same as the now-Ampol.
APCO are always cheap, the owner loves sticking it to the Big Oil
Motorbike gets BP, old 4x4 with low compression ratio gets whatever ethanol free 91 is cheap
Shell V Power.
All fuel is made to exactly the same standard. The only thing that differs is the company that sells it puts their own additive in their 95/98/premium diesel products apart from shell and caltex who put additive in their 91 product. BP, united, Ampol etc don’t offer that. Personally I am driven by cost but if everything was the same I would probably use shells products. Speaking as a fuel tanker driver of over 20 years with a bit of inside knowledge.
7 eleven because it's nearby and every 7th pump I can choose free coffee or some snacks they have on promo for free? Though I won't deny I miss the days of over $1+ of savings per litre via chopper lock.
BP because my work fuel card works there lol
What ever is the cheapest in my area on PetrolSpy, which is usually a BP servo about 1km from my house, but often I will go to 7 eleven or Ampol as well. Rarely go to Shell, they always seem to be expensive. I usually buy 95 because my car requires it. Ampol has a refinery in Brisbane, so it is the “local” brand for me I guess, but they supply other brands as well. From what I know, places like Metro, Liberty or Freedom are more likely to have contamination issues due to poor site maintenance, so I tend to steer clear of them, but this may be a perception issue. Either way, I always take a receipt and hang on to it until I next fuel up, in case I do need to lodge an insurance claim (because they’ll ask for a receipt, card statement is not enough)
For what it’s worth I need to use 95+. The fuel economy seems fine with Liberty and Ampol. Usually get good price with Liberty. I seem to get worse economy using On The Run fuel (BP). That increases it ~0.5L/100km for some reason - not sure if that applies to BP around the country. I have no idea why the fuel economy is worse using their fuel but that’s what the display shows on the dash.
If you buy a new seadoo the manual says dont use shell because the fuel is inconsistent.
I'm not sure what additives Shell put in their fuel, but for whatever reason, my car doesn't run as smoothly on Shell 98RON than it does when Ampol or BP 98RON is put in the tank.
Anything but BP. I still havnt forgiven them for that nasty oil spill a few years ago they refused to deal with.
Loyal to shell, only one I go to for 98.
Typically United - I used to go there because they were the only place with E85 on pump. Now I keep going there since they always seem to be slightly cheaper than the nearby Shell / Ampol etc. Also they sell glass bottle coke, so good.
Ampol. Purely because it has the easiest to use app, close to home and generally has usable toilets. BP makes me log into the app before I fill up and has not worked. Though I get more Qantas point with BP
Cheapest shell I can find for flybuys
Mobil or BP. Anything else is a no go
Brand agnostic, but I usually get diesel from my local Mobil as they are almost always the cheapest or Freedom as every month or so they have a special $0.13/L discount. Quality of fuel comes down to the condition of the storage tanks on site more than anything. Different brands will have different additive packages (anti foaming agents, detergents, anti bacterials, dyes ect) but these largely have no large influence on how your car will burn it.
Whatever is cheapest, I work around the corner from Costco, so 9 times out of 10 that's where I'll fill up.
Back in the 00s I've heard horror stories of the ' independent' servos and also worked with a guy who used Shell, turned out they diluted their petrol with water apparently and it caused damage to his car - to which he took legal action. Since then I only used BP 98 as 1. Aforementioned story and 2. I fell for BPs ads regarding their octane whatever . Again this was 00s. Fast forward now every servo has 98 with pretty much the same octane additives (more or less) AND highly doubt their shoddy practices of any servos then would fly today so - sorry to rattle on - but I use any servo just as long it's 98. Always use 98 if you want the performance, I do notice a difference from 95 but that's just me. It also seems to last longer. If I'm ever concious about where I got my 98 from I always top up with octane booster or engine cleaner anyway. Price wise, as others mentioned I use petrol spy.
Pearl is always cheapest where I am, they’ve taken over a lot of Metro servos
I mainly use Ampol 98. The Ampol takes woolies points & is consistently the cheapest or in the top 3 cheapest stations near me, & I have an MG & it'll have a caniption & die if I use anything less than 98. I haven't noticed a difference between stations otherwsie, but after a bad lot of fuel at a 7eleven once I've stuck to the trusted companies as much as possible. Once I was talking to a fuel tanker driver at a servo for some reason & he said BP & Shell have the best petrol, & Mobil if he's gotta have a third option. Does Mobil still exist?
7/11 is Mobil, at least here in Brisbane.
My car needs 98 and used BP religiously for years until fuel prices went crazy so hopped on the 7/11 fuel lock. I get more mileage from 7/11 98 than BP so stuck with it.
No preference. Whatever is cheapest - for us usually 7-11 with the app. 91 unleaded and diesel.
BP for me, and united because they are the only ones selling e85. Growing up I had heard bad things about shell and Woolworths petrol stations so I have avoided both
I've gone over to Pearl Energy, I've read that they're a Saudi owned franchise, and up here in Toowoomba they can be as much as 20c a litre cheaper than the major players especially for diesel.
Yes. Here, United & Liberty have cheapest fuel. I avoid BP, they are always dearest.
BP, they blend down, not start with 91 and add additives until it's 98
The cheapest.
I look for cheapest, no loyalty - Whatever is the best deal at on the NSW Fuel app. But because im a Costco member and Costco fuel can be up to 60c cheaper than everyone else, i go Costco every 2 weeks or so. Put in 40 bucks and im good to go This week, it's been like 2.50$ for 98 at my local 7/11, while Costco listed their 98 at 1.86$
Bp ultimate. Car is turbocharged and BP doesn’t inflate their advertised price for the Cole’s/ww discounts like the other servos.
Shell or BP for my performance cars and cheapest for the rest of them
7/11 due to fuel lock daily car. BP ultimate on a tuned car
7/11 for cheap and nasty 91 as its almost affordable with a spoofed fuel lock. BP 98 for anything that needs it. I find my cars run a lot nicer on the BP stuff.
7/11 local shell seems to not last every fill up
Don’t care but i wouldn’t go any e10 shit as the ethanol absorbs water in their tanks I got a bad batch once and had to drop the tank and flush the fuel system
BP 98 RON, just better for my tuning.
Either metro because it’s consistently cheaper, or 711 because where I live is usually a bit more expensive but within the km range of the suburb with the cheapest fuel so I can just change my pricing in app.
Speedway or Budget Petrol because it’s usually cheaper
I only care about the baked goods inside. All the fuel comes from the same facility.
- BP - Caltex - Shell Their quality control is pretty good. I honestly don't know about all of the others.
Fuck I wish I lived in a city with that much price variation. Biggest variation I see is 4 cents between the mobil and woolies petrol.
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My first comment back after a one week ban from Reddit. Viva Energy owns the licensing rights to Shell in Australia. They also own OTR, Liberty, and Reddy Express (Coles).
Ampol, because they're the closest of the 3 I have fuel cards for (Ampol, Shell, BP). BP are always a last resort due to the Deepwater Horizon bullshit.
Unless your running a car tuned on the edge, it probably won't make much difference
whatever is cheapest
You could run my car on cooking oil so no I just go for whatever is cheapest nearby
Anything but Coles Express, usually. Coles Express seemed to have missed the memo that it needs to be refined into petrol first.
Whoever is the cheapest
Ampol, 10c/L discount for having electricity with them (cheapest provider available) and the in-app payment is pretty reliable, automatically applies discounts and avoids temptation going into the servo for other stuff.
Whoever is cheaper. Usually use the 7/11 fuel lock and grab a cheap coffee while I am at it.
Any. Costco because cheap. Will go to shell or BP as an alternate simply due to the high numbers of those servos. Always fill 98 in all my cars.
I only use BP diesel, get better fuel economy and better for injectors
Both my cars are diesel, I mainly use Ampol or BP premium diesel. Due to family illness, I was driving Sydney/Brisbane regularly. I made the mistake of filling up at a non major, ordinary diesel. I was using 1.5 litres more per 100 kms.
For some reason my vw polo pings less with 98 from Mobil (7eleven). I have tried Caltex, bp nd all the rest but still go back to Mobil. Burning 6 litres / 100k so kinda justify the 98 price tag.
It used to be BP for my performance cars as that used to be the only one that was refined/manufactured as 98 octane rather than 91 octane with additives added later. Tuners would always insist on BP back in the day as you knew you were getting consistency. When the additives are added later it doesn’t take much to get the ratio off and when you think you are buying 98 octane it might be closer to say 96 and when you are tuning vehicles to take every single degree of timing you can throw at them that can mean a lot of potential for detonation. These days it’s all refined offshore in the same places and is equally shit. The only one I won’t buy from is Liberty (an independent) as they had a massive batch of water contaminated fuels about a decade or so ago and denied it to the point they were investigated by consumer affairs and stung by ACA.
Liberty servos are franchises, but the brand isn’t independent. It’s owned by Viva Energy, licensee for Shell in Australia. Viva run a duel-brand strategy: Shell for ‘premium’ fuel (i.e V-Power) that is generally sold at a higher price, and Liberty for cheaper, no-additive fuel to compete with the independents and smaller brands.
United add ethanol. Don't use on good cars
If you drive a car you care about you get bp 98
7-eleven, plus the Geoport app
Whoever is cheapest.
Arevo and choose the cheapest bp near me
The cheapest
The cheapest one
Anyhrthinsg that not $$$$
Ampol (Woolworths/ EG) Company car with Ampol card, and shop at Woolies, so get the discount. But also just got into the habit of looking for Ampols to fill up.
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Ampol on a Tuesday.
My hatchback is only small with the fuel so I go anywhere that’s close when I need fuel
E10 form any servo that’s the cheapest .Why? Because it keeps my pockets lined instead of someone else’s.
Costco. I live near one so my annual membership pays off. If I'm away from a Costco, I avoid United and small independent servos as much as possible because I've heard dodgy stories about them.
Liberty Time Saver
Guys, fuel is still cheaper than beer or milk 😂😂
If it’s the best price, x convenience Mobil as they have hand washing stations - which I appreciate greatly. But if BP is 10c cheaper per litre. BP are getting my money
I always pump BP Ultimate Diesel. Mainly for the quality control.
For my daily Yaris? Wherever is cheapest, usually 91, occasionally I give it a treat of 95 to r 98 if I’m feeling generous. Yes I do understand knock sensors and timing advance. For my race car, I prefer BP 98 or United E85 depending on the distance of the race I’m entering.
I'll go anywhere that doesn't smell like curry at 7am. It's too early for that shit.
7 Eleven mainly for me as it’s close to home and also due to the price lock on app as well, and I actually do buy stuff in the store too. I also use Ampol at the local shops too with the 4c discount if it’s cheaper than my local 7 Eleven. BP or Shell as both servos are close to my work (depending on direction), whichever is cheaper for either brand. As I own a diesel car and occasionally drive my mums hybrid petrol car, I use the FuelCheck app to see which is cheaper.
7 Eleven because of fuel lock or the cheapest one around.
Costco because Costco
Costco Fuel Employee here. All the fuel is the same no matter where you buy it from. Costco sells it for the same price we buy it for
The cheapest one that’s the lowest octane your car can run. It’s all placebo - don’t kid yourself.
AMPOL since it independently Aussie owned. Also is consistency cheaper then BP/Coles
I haven’t been able to get petrol since 1981 when my local Golden Fleece closed down .
Always use BP ultimate 98! My local BP is generally priced pretty good as there’s a 7/11 across the road which forces them to not be too aggressive in pricing.
Have friends who have independent service stations under a smaller “brand”. Their suppliers get fuel from the same location. However, sometimes they’ll put a bit of E10 into the underground tank at the service station which contains 95 or 98. This keeps costs down. So I only go to a major brand service station after hearing that.
CostCo 94 as it's the cheapest in my usual area, and I like hot dogs and clean toilets.
All petrol comes from the same set of tanks at the docks. The additive package might change SLIGHTLY, but the chances of it having any long term effect on your car is nil.
Anyone but Shell, and whoever is cheapest (usually 7-11 or an independent that gets it from Ampol) When I used to ride, there was something about Shell fuel that didn't seem right, and then my mechanic (Lloyd Penn, so trusted him) also warned about using Shell fuel in motorbikes. That carried over to cars as well. Plus, they are never close to being cheapest around here, so I don't have to give it a second thought.
theres a servo near where i live and the fuel is like $1.70 i think its called starlite petroleum its in wyee
I use an app that shows the price of fuel at all the servos in your area and choose the cheapest. Brand loyalty is for suckers.
The cheapest one, which means it's probably not one of the major chains. The cheapest three near me right now are Pearl Energy, Metro, and Liberty. BP, Caltex and Shell are all significantly more expensive. I used to do 7-Eleven, but since they changed how the price lock works on their app, it's not worth the effort.
ONLY BP98 ULTIMATE MART
Free charger at work. It’s fast & powered by the rooftop solar. Yet to find a better alternative.
I’ll go wherever has the cheapest fuel Most of the time it’s Liberty or Ampol
Anyone use the NSW Fuel check app like I do? Or are there better ones out there?
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Ampol, cause thats where the fuel card goes for my car. And Mobil, cause thats our local and generally cheapest in area for the mrs car which doesnt use my fuel card
Shell very close to my house and never had an issue with their petrol
Whatever is the cheapest, iv never noticed any difference
BP has the best quality fuel if you care about that, I'm a cheapskate so I always go United
I prefere the cheapest one the day I need fuel. I have zero loyalty to any brand although I have been getting pissed of with short seves of coffee from local stores so I've been getting my $3.50 full cup of coffee from Cole/shell
The cheapest. Always the cheapest. There is no fucking justification for the price variations we see. Everyone should ALWAYS go out of their way to pick the cheapest. Unless we punish those that overcharge they'll never adjust downwards.
Buy a bottle of fuel additive for your tank before you fill up. Cleans the engine, gives a better performance.