Motorists getting ready for a Christmas road trip have been given some early good news with the NRMA saying average fuel prices will not spike this weekend.
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said fuel prices in Orange should be the same over Christmas as they are right now.
We shouldn't see it go up any higher than it is now.
- Peter Khoury, NRMA spokesman
“We shouldn’t see it go up any higher than it is now,” he said.
At midday on Tuesday the average price of unleaded fuel in Orange was 140.5 cents a litre and 135.8 cents a litre for diesel.
And Mr Khoury said motorists heading to Sydney would also benefit as the city prices should fall from a current average of 142 cents a litre by the weekend.
“We know what the prices should be and there are no global factors for the prices to go up,” he said.
Mr Khoury said Christmas fuel price hikes had occurred in previous festive seasons.
“There were definitely cases in the last few years,” he said.
Mr Khoury said that while there was no reason for the average prices to rise there could be exceptions from individual operators.
“There might be the odd one,” he said.
The state government’s Fuel Check website and the my nrma app show that it does pay to shop around for the best prices.
At midday on Tuesday the price of unleaded petrol in the Orange region varied by 12 cents a litre.
The Metro stations on Forest Road and at Lucknow were cheapest at 129.9 cents a litre while Caltex, Coles Express and 7-Eleven sites in Orange were charging 141.9 cents a litre.
There was a similar variation for diesel fuel prices.
Mr Khoury said the my nrma app gave motorists live information on fuel prices.
He said prices varied across towns and suburbs.
“For those traveling outside Sydney, use the my nrma app to find the cheapest towns on your route, because the price gap from town to town can be significant,” he said.
The NRMA has also urged drivers to take regular breaks after its 2017 Dead Tired survey showed that two-thirds of drivers did not stop every two hours.