Petrol and diesel prices in South Australia today

How have SA petrol prices moved?

Over the 80 days since 14 July 2026, unleaded in South Australia has ranged between 167.0 and 237.5 c/L, a spread of 70.5 c/L. The typical day-to-day move is 1.2 c/L, and the largest single day move was +6.3 c/L on 17 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 South Australia from most of the country. The median also stood still on 3 of the last 14 days. That is the panel rather than the market: a median only moves when the middle site reprices, and South Australia has few enough reporting sites for that to be a quiet event.

Is petrol cheaper in Adelaide or regional SA?

Regional South Australia is paying 8.1 c/L more than Greater Adelaide today. Across the whole window the gap has averaged 7.2 c/L over 80 days, the fourth narrowest of the 5 jurisdictions publishing a split. The direction has been consistent: the rest of South Australia has not been cheaper than Greater Adelaide on a single day of the window, with the gap ranging from 3.0 to 14.0 c/L. So the premium is reliable even though its size is not, and leaving Adelaide is worth budgeting for. Greater Adelaide is the ABS Greater Capital City area; everything outside it counts as regional.

Sub-averages as at 1 October 2026.

Does South Australia have a petrol price cycle?

Not on a weekly clock. Across 11 weeks of our own SA readings, no single weekday stands out: the strongest is Tuesday, and it averages only +1.5 c/L, nowhere near enough to plan a fill-up around. There is a plainer reason than the window being short. The ACCC reports that petrol price cycles have mostly not occurred in Adelaide since late February 2026, so for the whole period we hold clean SA figures there has been no cycle to show up - which is what our own readings independently find.

How Adelaide normally behaves, per the ACCC: The shortest cycle of the four eastern and southern cities, and the most variable in length. The ACCC put the Adelaide cycle at around 2 and a half weeks across 2025, with recent cycles running anywhere from 14 to 32 days. Its guidance on timing a fill-up here: No cycle running to time. Compare nearby sites instead.

Mean day-over-day change in the SA 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 Adelaide 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 SA retailers charge above the wholesale price?

The Australian Institute of Petroleum publishes a terminal gate price for South Australia: what fuel costs leaving the terminal, before a retailer's own costs and margin. On 30 September 2026 that was 229.1 c/L for unleaded, against a pump median of 235.7 c/L - a gap of 6.6 c/L, and 25.7 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 Adelaide: 229.1 c/L on 30 September 2026, down 1.2 c/L on a week earlier. Direction steady: the latest five trading days against the five before, +1.1 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 SA fuel prices come from

Every figure on this page comes from SA Fuel Pricing Information Scheme, run by the Office of Consumer and Business Services. It is a mandatory reporting scheme requiring a price change to be notified within 30 minutes, run on the same platform as Queensland's. 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.

Based on or contains data provided by the State of South Australia (Office of Consumer and Business Services).

Fuel excise is the same in every state

Fuel excise is a Commonwealth tax, so it is identical in South Australia 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 SA: should I fill up today?