Petrol and diesel prices in the Northern Territory today

How have NT petrol prices moved?

Over the 80 days since 14 July 2026, unleaded in the Northern Territory has ranged between 173.9 and 246.9 c/L, a spread of 73.0 c/L. The typical day-to-day move is 1.2 c/L, and the largest single day move was +5.0 c/L on 16 September 2026. That sits in the middle half of the 8 jurisdictions reporting, which are closely packed - on volatility alone there is little to separate the Northern Territory from most of the country. The median also stood still on 9 of the last 14 days. That is the panel rather than the market: a median only moves when the middle site reprices, and the Northern Territory has few enough reporting sites for that to be a quiet event.

Why there is no Darwin versus regional split here

The Northern Territory is not split into a capital and a regional average here. The panel outside Greater Darwin is too small to carry a stable daily median, and a figure that swings on one site changing its price would mislead rather than inform.

Does the Northern Territory have a petrol price cycle?

Not on a weekly clock. Across 11 weeks of our own NT readings, no single weekday stands out: the strongest is Wednesday, and it averages only +1.4 c/L, nowhere near enough to plan a fill-up around. The ACCC does not publish a price cycle for Darwin, monitoring cycles in the five largest cities only: prices here follow wholesale costs more than retailer discounting rounds, which is what our own readings show too.

Mean day-over-day change in the NT unleaded median, by day of the week, over 79 consecutive-day pairs. A short window: treat it as this season's pattern rather than a permanent one. The cycle length, the description of Darwin and the timing guidance above are the ACCC Petrol Price Cycles in the 5 Largest Cities, last reviewed 18 August 2026; the weekday figures and the movement statistics are our own.

What do NT retailers charge above the wholesale price?

The Australian Institute of Petroleum publishes a terminal gate price for the Northern Territory: what fuel costs leaving the terminal, before a retailer's own costs and margin. On 30 September 2026 that was 238.0 c/L for unleaded, against a pump median of 246.9 c/L - a gap of 8.9 c/L, and 26.0 c/L on diesel. That gap is not profit. It covers freight from the terminal, the site's own running costs, and whatever margin the retailer is taking.

Wholesale in Darwin: 238.0 c/L on 30 September 2026, down 0.4 c/L on a week earlier. Direction steady: the latest five trading days against the five before, +1.2 per cent. How the direction is called.

The wholesale figure is published on weekdays and normally runs a day or two behind the pump figure, so the two dates above will rarely match exactly. The full build-up from barrel to bowser.

Where these NT fuel prices come from

Every figure on this page comes from MyFuel NT, run by the Northern Territory Government. It is a mandatory reporting scheme over a small station panel, with a rule fixing a published price for 24 hours unless the retailer is lowering it. We read it twice a day, take the median across the sites reporting, and publish it unaltered. We do not model, smooth or forecast the price.

Contains data sourced from MyFuel NT, published by the Northern Territory Government.

Fuel excise is the same in every state

Fuel excise is a Commonwealth tax, so it is identical in the Northern Territory and everywhere else. It returned to 53.7 c/L on 3 August 2026, worth up to about 18.8 c/L at the pump once GST is applied. Differences between states come from freight, competition and local costs, never from tax. What fuel excise costs per tank.

How these figures are derived: pricing methodology. Ways to pay less: save on fuel. Timing a fill-up in NT: should I fill up today?