{"id":328886,"date":"2026-03-04T19:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T19:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/328886\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T19:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T19:01:09","slug":"fuel-price-nears-4-per-litre-in-arnhem-land-with-further-increases-expected-due-to-war-in-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/328886\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuel price nears $4 per litre in Arnhem Land, with further increases expected due to war in Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fuel prices in remote areas of the Northern Territory are approaching $4 per litre, and residents are concerned about paying more as war in the Middle East restricts global oil supplies.<\/p>\n

Communities in Arnhem Land, such as Ramingining, 580 kilometres east of Darwin, are paying $3.99 per litre for diesel, while in Milingimbi the price is $3.95 per litre.<\/p>\n

The seven-day average for the entire NT was $2.35 per litre and Darwin was $1.81 per litre, according to MyFuel NT.<\/p>\n

East Arnhem Regional Council chief executive Dale Keehne said prices were usually higher in remote areas<\/a>, but conflict in the Middle East had left him concerned about further increases.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had a few surges over the years; this is particularly high and obviously very serious,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Some analysts have suggested Australian motorists take advantage of fuel prices before a likely steep rise in prices. (ABC News: Erin Parke)<\/p>\n

Mr Keehne said a lot of Indigenous communities relied on diesel generators for electricity, and some people would be forced to choose between buying fuel and other essentials such as food.<\/p>\n

“It could have an impact on food security effectively, because people don’t have that much money in the first place,” he said.<\/p>\n

The council supplies fuel to the community of Gapuwiyak, where diesel costs $3.28 per litre, and Mr Keehne said a federal subsidy was the best way to keep prices down.<\/p>\n

Aviation fuel costly<\/p>\n

In Maningrida, another remote community in Arnhem Land, Indigenous rangers are paying up to $5 per litre for aviation fuel, known as Avgas.<\/p>\n

Djelk ranger manager Jason Koh said Avgas was used to fuel helicopters that were vital for transporting supplies through the region and any price increase was of concern.<\/p>\n

“We’ll take it as it comes, there’s no other options really. It definitely affects every angle of work for the rangers,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We definitely feel the flow on effect of what’s happening in the rest of the world, it’s a small world these days.”\"A<\/p>\n

This bowser is selling aviation fuel in Maningrida, which is vital for helicopter transport during the wet season. (Supplied: Jason Koh)<\/p>\n

Mr Koh said pre-existing government grants were a vital source of funding, which meant the budget was inflexible, and an increase in operational costs would stretch their resources very thin.<\/p>\n

“The grants aren’t even meeting our wages, so we’re kind of running on the red line at the moment,” he said.<\/p>\n

The ABC understands the price of Avgas in Darwin is about $2.70 per litre.<\/p>\n

Motorists already feeling ripped off<\/p>\n

Fuel prices have increased significantly in the NT this week, with some reports of diesel jumping 15 to 20 cents per litre.<\/p>\n

The ABC Country Hour program <\/a>was inundated with texts from frustrated motorists, unhappy with the sudden rise.<\/p>\n

“Overnight it’s gone up more than 10 cents [per litre] to $1.99 per litre, which I reckon is straight out price gouging,” said Barry.<\/p>\n

“Yesterday was $1.71 per litre and it’s now $1.85 in Katherine! Price gouging, as there hasn’t been a new fuel drop since the rise in oil prices,” said Shaun.<\/p>\n

“Absolutely criminal what these fuel companies are doing. Surely this will put more pressure on inflation. Complete rip-off,” said Rob in Humpty Doo.<\/p>\n

“The fuel price going up has huge repercussions for boating, camping and our tourism. Basically, it’s taking away our lifestyle,” said Sprinkles.<\/p>\n

“At Parap, diesel is now $1.99 per litre, last week $1.79 per litre,” said Ross.<\/p>\n

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver told ABC News that motorists should keep an eye out for price gouging because petrol prices should not have risen sharply yet.<\/p>\n

“The normal relationship [means] the petrol you’re buying at the pump at present was purchased seven to 10 days ago, so it should not reflect these higher [oil] prices,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Over time, it will start to reflect the high prices, then it starts to flow through.”<\/p>\n

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he has written to ask the ACCC “to help ensure fuel retailers don’t use events in the Middle East to price gouge Australians”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fuel prices in remote areas of the Northern Territory are approaching $4 per litre, and residents are concerned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[53085,151989,943,63461,246,9658,27075,61,111864,60,151392,6000,2494,45872,21713,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-328886","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-aboriginal","9":"tag-avgas","10":"tag-cost-of-living","11":"tag-diesel","12":"tag-environment","13":"tag-fuel","14":"tag-helicopter","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-indigenous-communities","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-middle-east-war","19":"tag-oil","20":"tag-price","21":"tag-rangers","22":"tag-remote","23":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}