Fuel crisis: Average Metropolitan price of diesel to top $3 per litre on Wednesday as bowsers bleed dry

Motorists across Perth will be dealt another brutal blow from the fuel crisis on Wednesday with the average price of diesel to hit three dollars a litre as many stations begin to run dry.

Fuel Watch WA is forecasting rises across the board with regular unleaded petrol to climb another 11 cents to $2.57 a litre, and premium at around $2.84 on average.

Ampol and Caltex will be the two most expensive brands for fuel, with Vibe and independents among the cheapest.

According to the Fuel Watch website, unleaded Petrol is currently unavailable at several regional areas.

It includes Harbour Road Truckstop (Chadwick), Geographe IGA, Hills Emporio (Karragullen), Mount Barker Fuel Service, Astron Quinns Rocks, and the Walkaway General Store, while Gracie’s General in Gracetown remains completely closed.

Diesel supplies appear to have run dry at Ampol High Wycombe, Shell Geraldton — which has been offline since March 9, Darnell’s General Store in Rosa Brook, and De Rosa’s in Waroona, in addition to the outages reported at the Chadwick, Gracetown, Karragullen, Mount Barker, and Walkaway locations.

Consumer Protection WA Commissioner Trish Blake said the weekly cycle and familiar “cheap Tuesday” has been abandoned in the wake of the crisis.

She urged motorists to only purchase the fuel they need to fill their vehicles, and not to stockpile, and said the current reporting system for fuel supplies at stations is making it difficult to get a clear picture of all the shortages.

“We’ve looked at this issue about supply, and it gets really tricky. So on the fuel watch website, retailers do have a toggle switch where they can say fuel is temporarily unavailable,” she said.

“So that’s where the six has come from, because they’re the six that have said to us, sorry, we don’t have fuel at the moment.

“I think the issue is supply becomes a tricky thing to report on, because if we’re, say, asking the retail outlet to tell us exactly how much they’ve got we have to remember it’s point in time only.”

A WA government spokesman said under the current system, fuel retailers in the State are required to self-report if they run dry.

“We are working with industry to implement a new digital reporting system that will provide greater visibility of stock levels across the State,” he said.

He said currently the data would be provided publicly each Friday through the Fuel Industry Operations Group.