Retail fuel market

The cost of fuel affects almost every household and business in the Northern Territory (NT) in the way that they budget and spend. In this section, analysis is provided on the Northern Territory's monthly average petrol prices, including unleaded petrol and diesel retail prices, terminal gate prices, gross indicative retail differences and brent crude oil prices.

Recent activity | MyFuel NT | Explanatory notes

The cost of fuel affects almost every household and business in the NT in the way they budget and spend. The NT Government continues to implement a number of measures to improve fuel price transparency for NT motorists and place downward pressure on fuel prices. These measures form part of the NT Government’s continuing response to recommendations made by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in its 2015 Report on the Darwin Petrol Market and initiatives developed by other jurisdictions.

As a result, the Department of Treasury and Finance has enhanced reporting and analysis of fuel prices across the NT by including analysis of unleaded petrol, diesel fuel, wholesale price margins and capital cities fuel price comparisons. A key measure was the introduction of MyFuel NT in November 2017, which allows consumers to easily compare fuel prices and to shop around for the lowest local prices.

The practice of displaying discounted fuel prices on fuel display boards has been discontinued to provide customers with real time retail prices, and to ensure the price advertised on display boards matches the undiscounted price of fuel at the register and the bowser.

Recent activity

In the four weeks to 19 May 2024, the monthly average price for unleaded petrol was (Chart 1):

• 196.1 cents per litre (cpl) in Darwin (up by 3 cpl in the month)
• Darwin had the third lowest retail unleaded fuel price of all capital cities
• 208.1 cpl in NT (up by 4.9 cpl in the month)

The monthly average price for diesel was (Chart 2):

• 198.8 cpl in Darwin (down by 0.2 cpl in the month)
• Darwin had the fourth lowest retail diesel price of all capital cities
• 219.8 cpl in NT (up by 0.4 cpl in the month)

For the latest available data and analysis for the NT and its regions, see the Department of Treasury and Finance’s Fuel prices economic brief.

MyFuel NT

• Retail fuel prices across the NT are monitored on an aggregate monthly average basis from data captured on the MyFuel NT portal.
• For access to the up-to-date daily retail fuel prices, visit the MyFuel NT online portal.

Explanatory notes

• Retail fuel prices are based on data reported by the Australian Institute of Petroleum. For the latest available data and analysis, see the Department of Treasury and Finance’s Fuel prices economic brief or go to Australian Institute of Petroleum website for the data.
• The majority of automotive fuel in the NT is sourced from overseas through the fuel import terminal and wholesale storage facility located at East Arm, near Darwin. The remaining supply of fuel is sourced from interstate fuel import and refinery terminals.
• Factors contributing to the retail price of fuel in the NT are:
  • benchmark crude oil prices
  • movements in the Australian dollar
  • production and import costs
  • Commonwealth fuel excise and GST
  • wholesale prices of fuel
  • transport costs associated with distributing fuel across large distances
  • lower sales volumes per retail outlet
  • lack of retail competition
  • higher retail margins, which are generally dependent on the cost of doing business and levels of competition.
• DTF monitors retail fuel prices in the NT on an aggregate monthly average basis. However, daily fuel prices can be found on MyFuel NT.  
• The ACCC also monitors Darwin fuel prices in its Quarterly Report on the Australian Petroleum Market, which can be found under publications section of the ACCC website.