This report of the ACCC inquiry into the price of unleaded petrol conclude that the industry in Australia is fundamentally competitive. There is no obvious evidence of price fixing or collusion between the major participants in the industry. The evidence of price fixing in petrol markets to date has mainly involved specific instances at the retail level of the industry—it is not a fundamental condition of the industry.

While the industry is essentially competitive, this inquiry has brought to light some fundamental structural issues that raise concerns about current operations and future competitiveness: the Australian refining industry is relatively concentrated, and there are significant barriers to entry at the refining level. Although existing demand for petrol cannot be met through domestic production alone, there are significant impediments to the large-scale importing of petrol by parties other than refiner-marketers, resulting in very little independent importing. The result is that 98 per cent of Australia’s total fuel requirements are largely controlled by the four refiner-marketers. This makes for a very concentrated industry.