Fuel prices around red centre

[jjbarry]

Guys,

We are traveling from Canberra to Uluru then doing the Meneenie loop. Just wondering where the best places to fill up are?
Cheers

Baz

[chester ver2.0]

Unfortunatly up that way it is a captive market so you will be looking at $2 plus a litre wherever you go

[Traveller]

We just went through Alice and paid $1.79/l. I had a local have a chuckle at my expense from the look on my face when first seeing the price. Port Augusta was $1.59/l going up and $1.55 coming home, Coober Pedy was $1.70/l going up and $1.73 coming back, Marla was $1.96, and I think Erldunda was over the $2 mark.

If it is any consolation it was $2.40/l on the Gibb River Road.

Hope you have a great trip.

[speewa158]

Don't worry about fuel or don't go , its that simple . Think about all the sights you will see when your out there . l did that trip last year 65ookm return average price over the trip was $1.74. Considering how much fun we had & where we went its cheap , but l wouldn't want to do it every day . l used to take the hat off my head , cover the $$ bit on the pump doing the same at the Visa point . lt didn't hurt as much  . Just think of all the road stories you will have to bore the pants off people at the camp fire   .  Enjoy   

[brickiematt]

When swmbo gets home with the paj tonight I can give you exact prices (the receipts are still in the car), but on the red centre trip we spent over $2000 on diesel, covering 8600km.
Yulara will charge a premium ($2.20 plus) just cos they can. The only alternative near there is Curtin Springs.
Kings Creek Station was $2.38 pl, but cheaper at the resort just down the road (get your Mereenie Loop pass at the same time). Cant remember the price at Hermannsberg, but similar to Kings Canyon Resort. Alice is cheapest of course, and it gets dearer as you head further out.
Bur like speewa said, it's no use stressing about it. Just turn your back on the bowser as you fill up and admire the countryside you're travelling through.  Thats what you're there for after all.
Cheers
Matt

[aussie9]

We're heading out there next Friday for a month too.   You will pay whatever it is for fuel. All part of the adventure

I am more pissed off at the price of fuel around Ipswich (30
klms west of Brisbane). $1.64 today.   


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[marvellous_matt]

I had a local have a chuckle at my expense from the look on my face when first seeing the price.

Yep we do that, no weekly cycle here.
If you are coming from South Australia I think Erldunda (Turn off to Uluru) will be the cheapest you will find before you get to Alice (if I have read it right you will be going Uluru, Watarrka (Kings Canyon) Mereenie to Alice). The Supermarket at Yulara is pretty well stocked, and you get a discount at the local fuel stn with your docket. That would be the next best bet, and I hear plenty of people mention that the Kings Canyon resort is slightly cheaper than Kings Creek Stn.

If you like a beer or two best to come prepared with that as well, takeaway is also hard to find away from Alice

[Rumpig]

Yep we do that, no weekly cycle here.
If you are coming from South Australia I think Erldunda (Turn off to Uluru) will be the cheapest you will find before you get to Alice (if I have read it right you will be going Uluru, Watarrka (Kings Canyon) Mereenie to Alice). The Supermarket at Yulara is pretty well stocked, and you get a discount at the local fuel stn with your docket. That would be the next best bet, and I hear plenty of people mention that the Kings Canyon resort is slightly cheaper than Kings Creek Stn.

If you like a beer or two best to come prepared with that as well, takeaway is also hard to find away from Alice

a few years back we surprisingly found it was quite a bit cheaper to buy diesel at Yulara then back on the highway at Erldunda, and Yulara was also cheaper then Curtain Spring

[MDS69]

a few years back we surprisingly found it was quite a bit cheaper to buy diesel at Yulara then back on the highway at Erldunda, and Yulara was also cheaper then Curtain Spring

We found the same with unleaded.

[speewa158]

Re Fuel pricing , just buy it heading North top up as each chance comes , going South just enough to get to the next stop . lts get cheaper . ln Alice l ran desperately short of  had to go to the van park office to top up . Only 6  :cheers:per day , per person over 18 years . This hardly cut the dust , but its a start 

[brickiematt]

So some prices from our just completed trip:
If you are travelling up the Stuart Hwy, Marla was $1.91 pl. Kulgera and Erldunda are similar.
Yulara was $2.21
Kings Creek Station was $2.38 (stayed there but didn't refuel - highly recommend the campsite)
Kings Canyon Resort was $2.32, you can also buy your Mereenie Loop pass from the servo, $5.50.
Hermannsburg was $2.20
Alice Springs was $1.78

Didn't fuel up at Curtin Springs, but a slab of VB was $88      Half a dozen Beam cans was..........wait for it........$55        Supplies were dangerously low at Yulara, and only one place does take away grog, and you have to be staying at Yulara to buy it. Then they only sell beer by the six pack.......$25. Equates to $100 for a slab. Ouch!
So make sure you stock up on enough grog to last you in Alice Springs  (and yes, I savoured every single drop of that $88 slab!)

 
Matt

[speewa158]

ln Alice l went to the Truck Museum & Fe decided not to get an education , so she went shopping .  When she picked me up l had a full tank of diesel & 2  slabs of VB . Really a great day . Fuel &  both at great prices considering where we were 

[doc evil]

As others have said, pay for fuel or don't go.........Simple.

Most I paid on a recent desert trip was $2.70/lt, and putting in almost 200lt hurt, but hey, it's an adventure (and factored into my expenses for the trip) and a poo poo load cheaper than an overseas jaunt (not to one of those bogan filled Asian holiday spots) or even paying a premium for coffee, accommodation, beer etc in a major tourist town.

[Desert lover]

Yes fuel is expensive out here in the Red Centre....has more to do with transport costs than the proprietor of the place where you purchase it.... Costs an exorbitant amount to get a fuel dump when off the main roads which explains the higher prices.   Most we ever paid was (and this is two years ago) $3.40 per litre on the Gary Junction Road........ I wonder and shudder at what it is now....

Just for interest fuel from Port Augusta to Yulara is road trained up from Adelaide..... Fuel for Kings Creek and Kings Canyon (and places north of Alice Springs) is train freighted to Alice Springs and then Road trained out.....

Still people don't get how expensive it is to get any item freighted to a 'remote' location and how this price must be added to items.....We live out here and go to Alice to stock up on our supplies - we get time off, a wonderful trip across the Giles Road and a night in 'the big smoke' .... but if all we did was add the cost of fuel etc (freight) to our goodies they would still be incredibly expensive!

Come and enjoy the country - don't stress about the prices...be prepared and stock up when in larger places which can absorb or don't incur the freight costs of the smaller operators.
Cheers,
Sue
 
 

[Hills Mum Bec]

We have just come back from our Red Centre trip.  The most expensive fuel places were Curtain Springs & Kings Creek, both about $2.35/litre for diesel.  Diesel at Yulara was $2.20/L & we got a 4c/L discount voucher when we bought a few magazines from the Yulara newsagent.  Definitely worth spending a few dollars at the newsagents to get the discount.  Curtain Springs was expensive for everything, $8 for an Iced Coffee, $4 for a small chocolate bar.

[chester ver2.0]

Yep i remmeber last time when i had to fill the 120 series up a Yulara 180 Litres and it was emotional but you get over it

[MDS69]

Not exactly the Red Centre but Pink Roadhouse Oodnadatta Sep '12 where I filled up

[Bird]

Not exactly the Red Centre but Pink Roadhouse Oodnadatta Sep '12 where I filled up

Gee, I hope they supplied the KY when you paid at that price....

[marvellous_matt]

..has more to do with transport costs than the proprietor of the place where you purchase it...

the increased freight represents a few cents per liter. The rest of the of the price increase represents a bigger margin. In most cities fuel retailers make about 7c a liter, in January the ABC reported that in Darwin the margin was about 15c, it is likely that Alice was closer to 20c.

[doc evil]

the increased freight represents a few cents per liter. The rest of the of the price increase represents a bigger margin. In most cities fuel retailers make about 7c a liter, in January the ABC reported that in Darwin the margin was about 15c, it is likely that Alice was closer to 20c.

Might be correct if you put the decimal place back..........

.7 of 1 cent is the current margin for proprietors.

Just to add, fuel is trucked from Darwin to stops along the Great central including Ularu and I'm lead to believe Alice is supplied by truck from Darwin.

[marvellous_matt]

.7 of 1 cent is the current margin for proprietors.

there has been a fair amount of discussion in the media over the last few years regarding the disparity of prices in NT compared to other states. I have never heard that the margin is .7 cents per liter. I was surprised that any one could make a profit from 7 cents a liter. If what you suggest is true, filling both tanks on the work Cruiser, a cost of $270(150l), would be a profit $1.05 to the retailer.
 
from ABC in Jan
'Fueltrac director Geoff Trotter on Thursday said there was little competition in Darwin and the pump price was about 173 cents per litre but the wholesale price was just 148 cents per litre, meaning petrol stations had a margin of about 25 cents per litre.
By comparison the margin in Adelaide on the same day was just seven cents per litre.'

for the whole article please go to http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/01/09/3922922.htm

Sorry if this tread is leading off topic into emotive areas. I have shared the best information I have available to me.

[Rumpig]

Not exactly the Red Centre but Pink Roadhouse Oodnadatta Sep '12 where I filled up

reminds me of the $300 worth of diesel i put in my Cruiser at Borooloola a few years back...i hadn't even filled the tanks at that stage, but knew the $300 worth would get me to where i needed to be and fuel would be much cheaper there then.

[4runnernomore]

Yep,  darwin at it's best.
98 is now 2.o2.98 per litre. BP is the only one that sells it up here so you pay for the Privelidge.

You know you are getting screwed when fuel is cheaper down the track than in Darwin.

[speewa158]

Not exactly the Red Centre but Pink Roadhouse Oodnadatta Sep '12 where I filled up

Take your hat off & place it over the numbers , then do the same & pay for it . lf you cant afford it   ,  push the rig till its cheaper                                   

[Stozz]

Kings Creek Station 2.5 weeks ago

Luckily we didn't need a whole tank of diesel.