Petrol prices were steady for the second week in a row in Canberra last week, although they remain more than 12c a litre more expensive than in Sydney.
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The latest figures from the Australian Institute of Petroleum show the national average metropolitan price rose by 0.2c to 140.2c a litre, the regional average price was down 0.4c to 145.4c and the average diesel price was down by 0.2c to 150c.
While Sydney and Melbourne unleaded prices dropping by just under 1c to 137.4c and 138.3c a litre lat week, prices in Canberra remained unchanged at 149.8c a litre for the second straight week.
CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said that after staying pretty steady for the past week, national prices were likely to rise over the next fortnight.
"The key Singapore unleaded price rose by has risen by a sizable $5.60 in Aussie dollar terms in the past fortnight and is holding at four-month highs. In fact most of the gains have been in the past week. The main driver behind the gains in regional oil prices has been the better global economic data and improvement in investor risk appetite – fuelling the demand for commodities like oil," he said in a statement.
"The sharp rise in regional prices should filter through to wholesale prices and then through to dearer fuel prices over the next fortnight. CommSec expects petrol prices to rise by 3 cents a litre in the next fortnight."
