A Singaporean In Australia

Wrote about fuel situation in Perth before. I am pretty sure many of you don't understand what I wrote at all. I distinctively remember describing how things work here to Tucky before but lately, I had to explain it all over again. The way fuel is sold here is so different from what we were used to in Singapore.

In Perth, the fuel prices offered to the public at just 1 same kiosk can vary by as much as 30% from the cheapest to the dearest day of the week. For example, one particular kiosk may be offering lowest range unleaded at $1.14 on Monday and $1.49 on Friday. Nobody likes to pay extra, not to mention a whopping 35c extra for every litre you fill. Say if you fill a full tank of 50 litres on the worst possible day, you will be paying $17.50 more compared on the best possible day. Perhaps this may be small change to many of you but to some others, it can be used to buy that last piece of SG50 collectible. Never underestimate how little bits add up.

And that's just 1 kiosk! It doesn't matter what brand of fuel the station is carrying. As far as prices are concern, it seems like a case of every man for himself. So if you visit 10 different Shell stations on the same day, you'll probably see 10 different prices. Lately, it seems there was talk about fuel "price wars." I haven't seen anything spectacular yet, unlike half a year ago when I was filling it up at close to $1 per litre. Thankfully, I can still fill around $1.1x lately. Can't complain about that. It could be worse. Anyway, the volatile prices across so many fuel kiosks here see the need for Fuelwatch. That website basically points to consumers where to get the cheapest fuel for the day. By that, I mean 30c-40c cheaper than the most expensive kiosk for the day. Worth a check whenever the tank looks low. If any kiosk is nearby, it's filling time. 

The first time I came across a concept like Fuelwatch was actually before I moved to Perth. I am trying not to laugh but Singapore has its own Fuelwatch and that was where I first knew about it. But seriously, what's the fucking point? The prices are almost the same everyday, every brand, every station. For example, look at the chart below (not fuelwatch but similar)

3c? And these folks update like.... once every 2-3 weeks? Price wars? Nah, prefer holding hands and singing folk songs. Raise price to $3/L Singaporeans will also continue to drive car lah, tio bo? War for what?