The consumer watchdog is urging motorists to use petrol price comparison apps and websites in a bid to boost competition and push down prices.
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It comes as new figures show the December quarter in 2016 had the highest quarterly average price since the June quarter in 2015.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says fuel price comparison tools that help motorists pinpoint the cheapest deals were helping some save as much as $15 each time they filled up their tank.
"The ACCC estimates that by timing their purchases of petrol, and choosing to buy from the lowest priced retailer, motorists filling up a vehicle with a 60 litre tank could save themselves around $10 to $15 per tank of petrol," he says.
There's a mix of government and privately run apps and websites, including FuelCheck, MotorMouth, GasBuddy and NRMA apps.
It says the usage of these price comparison tools has increased sharply, from 4 million hits in the December quarter in 2015 to about 21 million hits in the same quarter last year.
Mr Sims says these tools were helping motorists play an active role in finding cheaper petrol prices and helping discounting petrol retailers broadcast their lower prices.
"Petrol websites and apps are beginning to play an important role in providing price transparency and I cannot emphasise enough the importance of price transparency in enabling competition in the retail petrol market," he says.
"The more people that use these websites and apps, the more powerful a role they can play in helping consumers get the lowest prices."
At lunchtime on Wednesday, the FuelCheck website showed there was a 12 cent difference between most expensive (Caltex Longueville) and cheapest (Metro Castle Cove) Unleaded 91 petrol near Chatswood.
The hits have been fuelled by soaring petrol prices, with ACCC's ninth quarterly report on the national petroleum industry showing the December quarter in 2016 had the highest quarterly average price since the June quarter in the previous year.
It shows that prices in the five largest cities increased by 7.8 cents per litre to 122.0 cents per litre.
In addition, gross retail margins, that is, the difference between retail prices and wholesale prices, increased by 0.9 cents per litre to 11.3 cents per litre. Average gross retail margins in the five largest cities in the 2016 calendar year were 10.6 cents per litre, which was marginally higher than in 2015.
"Average retail prices in the December quarter 2016 in the largest cities were the highest since the June quarter 2015, while gross retail margins also increased in the quarter," says Mr Sims.
The increase in retail prices during the quarter was significantly influenced by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) announcement in November that its members had agreed to limit crude oil production.
The OPEC cartel announced an additional agreement in December with 11 non-OPEC countries to reduce production further.
"International crude oil and refined petrol prices increased because of the OPEC cartel's decision to restrict oil supply," says Mr Sims.
"Cartel conduct leads to higher prices and economic harm and, in this case, it has meant higher prices at the pump for Australian motorists," he says.
"In this higher price environment it is even more important for motorists to shop around for cheaper petrol prices."
