National petrol is 217.7 c/L, 46.7 c/L above the level of the week before the conflict began, and four numbers explain the litre: crude oil, the exchange rate, tax, and the leg from the terminal to the pump. Crude is the largest and the one that moved: Brent is US$109.51 a barrel, 50 per cent above the pre-conflict level, which puts about 96.6 c/L of oil in every litre before anything is refined, shipped, taxed or sold.
| Layer | c/L | Share | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crude oil | 96.6 | 44% | Brent at today's exchange rate, per litre of a barrel |
| Refining, freight, wholesale margin | 45.8 | 21% | Terminal gate price with taxes removed, minus crude |
| Fuel excise | 53.7 | 25% | ATO gazetted rate |
| GST | 19.8 | 9% | 10 per cent of everything above, excise included |
| Retail margin | 1.8 | 1% | Pump median minus terminal gate price, before GST |
| Pump price | 217.7 | 100% | National median 217.7; the layers reconcile to it within rounding |
The same arithmetic, with each layer explained, is the barrel-to-bowser breakdown on the fuel prices page and the methodology. Only the split of the middle block into refining, freight and wholesale margin is an estimate; its total is measured.
The raw material, and the number that has moved most since the conflict began.
Brent crude is US$109.51 a barrel on 9 September 2026 (EIA daily series, released weekly, so the newest reading can be several days old), up 12.2 per cent on a week earlier (US$97.59 on 2 Sept) and up 18.1 per cent on a month earlier (US$92.74 on 10 Aug). That is 50.0 per cent above the pre-conflict weekly average of US$73 (ACCC weekly fuel price monitoring, week to 20 February 2026).
At US$0.7129 to the dollar that is A$154 a barrel, and a barrel is 159 litres, so crude alone is about 96.6 c/L, 44 per cent of the pump price. At the pre-conflict US$73 and exchange rate of 0.67, the same litre carried about 68.5 c/L of oil.
The chart, the 90-day range and the Singapore benchmarks that sit between crude and a refined litre are on the oil prices page.
Oil is priced in US dollars, so the dollar decides how much of the crude move reaches an Australian litre.
The Australian dollar is US$0.7129 on 14 September 2026, down 1.2 per cent on a week earlier. At Brent US$109.51, a barrel of crude costs A$154 at today's rate against A$163 at the pre-crisis rate of 0.67, which is about 6.2 c/L less on the crude component of a litre from the exchange rate alone. Oil is priced in US dollars, and the dollar is stronger than it was before the crisis, which takes some of the edge off the crude bill.
Excise is a fixed amount per litre and GST is a percentage of everything, excise included, so tax rises with the price.
Fuel excise on petrol and diesel is 53.7 c/L, the full indexed rate, since 3 August 2026. The step on that day was 17.1 c/L of excise, about 18.8 c/L at the pump once GST is applied. The rate is indexed to the consumer price index each February and August.
GST adds 10per cent on top of the pre-GST total, excise included, which at today's price is about 19.8 c/L. Excise and GST together are about 73.5 c/L, 34 per centof the litre. Excise did not cause this year's rise, but the temporary relief that ended on 3 August 2026 had been holding the pump price down by about 18.8 c/L, and its end is part of why the price today is where it is.
The step, what it costs per tank and every rate since the relief began are on the fuel excise page; the verified current rate is on its own reference page.
The terminal gate price is what fuel costs leaving the terminal, taxes included; the pump median sits above it by the retailer's costs and margin, or below it for a few days after wholesale jumps.
Terminal gate petrol is 215.7 c/L nationally on 15 September 2026, up 11.7 c/L since 8 September 2026, and the pump median is 217.7 c/L. Between crude and the terminal sit refining, freight and the wholesaler's margin, about 45.8 c/Ltoday; between the terminal and the pump, the retailer's costs and margin, about 1.8 c/L today, which is unusually thin because wholesale has risen faster than pump prices have followed, and they usually follow within one to two weeks. Each state page shows the same gap for its own capital.
What this page does not do is say where the price goes next. The wholesale direction that leads pump prices, and why it is sometimes withheld, is on the price-direction page (withheld today, 6 of the 10 trading days the rule needs on file).
Source: EIA, ECB via Frankfurter, ATO, AIP terminal gate prices, state government fuel price feedsUpdated 15 September 2026Pre-conflict retail level 171.0 c/L, AIP weekly report, week ending 22 February 2026How we measure this
Crude and the exchange rate refresh with the daily market run, the pump and terminal gate figures with the twice-daily price run; what follows is the page's own edit history.
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 15 September 2026 | Page published: crude, the exchange rate, the tax line and the wholesale-to-retail leg, each with its live figure and its share of the litre. |
The one comparison here that reaches across a change in our own method is the pre-conflict retail level, a mean over a different station panel; up to 1 to 2 c/L of that gap can be methodological. Anything found wrong on this page goes through the corrections page, publicly.