petrol prices - Kurnell this time!

The incident caused a nice brown out across most of southern Sydney.

From what I hear it was a 132kV Stanchion that was dropped.

Would have been a dark night on the Kurnell peninsula.

Death, taxes and increasing fuel prices..........get over it...........all we seem to hear about lately is more doom and gloom, high fuel prices, terrorists, yes the world is all !#$%ed up.

We are part of a globalised trade environment that will not change in the near future.....either accept things will never change and get on with life, sell your car or buy an oil company..........Our oil parity price is linked to Singapore off all things! Unless we lobby the Federal Government or oil companies to change their practices were stuck with it; I don't see that happening in the near future...

I remember the days of 35 cents a litre too. Personally I think it is great as it keeps interest rates down........

Death, taxes, terrorism and increasing fuel prices..........get over it...........all we seem to hear about lately is more doom and gloom, yes the world is all !#$%ed up. I want the 80's back...

We are part of a globalised trade environment that will not change in the near future.....either accept things will never change and get on with life, sell your car or buy an oil company..........Our oil parity price is linked to the Singapore price of all things! Unless we lobby the Federal Government or oil companies to change their practices were stuck with it; I don't see that happening in the near future...I've got more important things to loose sleep over.

As an example, when is the Federal government going to force oil companies to develop bio-diesel? Mind you I noticed the price of LPG has gone down, so there is a silver lining...So if you drive a petrol car it may be cheaper to convert to LPG. I have a diesel and don't have that luxury, so I just accept my lot.

I remember the days of 35 cents a litre too. Personally I think it is great as it keeps interest rates down........

Well Wayne will be having a nice arvo shift tonight!

bulls$%^$#$t nothing more to say

nothing more than a few gutless c$nts wanting to get ritcher

NOW GOING TO BE 2 WEEKS!!!

Shutdown pushes fuel prices to record
By Scott Rochfort
July 15, 2005

Petrol prices across Sydney hit a record high yesterday and were set to climb further after it was revealed the Caltex oil refinery at Kurnell could be out of service for two weeks.

EnergyAustralia warned it could take until Monday before it could fix a transmission line leading to the refinery.

The powerline failed after a transmission tower collapsed during maintenance work on Tuesday night.

An 18-minute stoppage in 1995 led to Caltex receiving a $7.25 million insurance payout.

In a statement, EnergyAustralia said the repairs were "a complex task involving transferring conductors from the damaged transmission tower to a series of new poles which have been erected".

"While it is not yet possible to say when work will be complete, it may continue into the weekend."

EnergyAustralia's spokeswoman, Sandra Olsen, said she could not guarantee that power would be restored to the refinery by Monday.

Even if power was restored by then, Caltex said, it could take up to seven more days to get the plant fully operating.

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AdvertisementThe company declined to comment on suggestions it could run out of petrol. On Wednesday it said it had seven days' supply and could source additional fuel from its Brisbane refinery and overseas.

The only other oil company with a Sydney refinery, Shell, said it was already helping supply some of Caltex's customers.

Shell's spokeswoman, Edwina Priby, said: "At this stage, we're confident that there will not be any disruptions to supply in the Sydney market."

But it is expected Sydney motorists could pay more at the bowser in coming days, even though the price of crude oil eased from US$61 to $US60 a barrel yesterday.

The consumer group motormouth.com.au said it measured its highest average price for petrol in Sydney yesterday since it had begun monitoring prices five years ago. The average price of petrol in Sydney was $1.15 a litre, with the cheapest $1.09 litre and most expensive $1.20.

Another monitoring group, FUELtrac, warned that the Kurnell mishap could result in a shortage of fuel in Sydney.

FUELtrac's general manager, Chris Kable, said it was unlikely petrol prices would fall from yesterday's highs.

"The potential worst-case scenario is that they [motorists] won't get the current discount cycle," Mr Kable said.

The chief executive of the Service Station Association, Ron Bowden, criticised the media's obsession with petrol prices.

"People shouldn't be focused on how they can get it cheaper." He said they should instead worry more about the looming global oil shortage.

"Our main focus is to supply enough fuel so the nation moves. What [motorists] pay for it isn't really important right now."

FUELLING CONCERN

- Average petrol prices in Sydney hit record $1.15 a litre yesterday.

- Cheapest petrol yesterday in Sydney was $1.09 a litre; most expensive $1.20

- 18-minute blackout at Kurnell refinery in 1995 cost Caltex $7.25 million.