Consumer Affairs Minister Craig Emerson said yesterday he had received the confidential report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and would comment on it in due course.

Petrol Commissioner Joe Dimasi also released the regulator's second annual petrol price monitoring report yesterday, saying he was increasingly concerned by the degree of price coordination in the market.

He did not accuse oil companies of directly colluding, which is banned under the Trade Practices Act, but said the biggest players Caltex, BP and Mobil were leading prices up during the weekly price cycle, while independents and other discounters, including supermarkets, were left to drag prices back down once they had spiked.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times