One of Canberra’s few bastions of cheap petrol since it opened in December 2014, Costco’s Majura Park petrol station will be temporarily closing on Monday, as one of Canberra’s famously most affordable fuel outlets installs six new fuel pumps.
Construction will temporarily close the existing pumps from Monday 11 May until mid-June.
Even with petrol prices hovering around $1 per litre across town at the moment, Costco’s Majura fuel station is, as at 8am today offering unleaded 91 petrol for 86 cents per lite.
The fact this expansion is taking place right as petrol prices hit longstanding record lows means local consumers probably won’t suffer the hit they might have had these works taken place even a few months ago.
NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said the temporary closure of the Costco petrol site for expansion should not have an impact on petrol pricing in the ACT.
“We hope not,” he said. “It should be about oil companies passing on the global falls … Costco doing renovations shouldn’t have an impact.”
Mr Khoury said the ACT’s petrol prices have, historically, been “way too high”, with Canberra, Darwin and Hobart often lagging in terms of price falls.
The ACT Government’s recent threat to regulate petrol prices appears to have helped petrol prices decrease, with Mr Khoury acknowledging they are now “where we would expect them to be” and this should be “the new normal”.
Patrick Noone, Managing Director of Costco, said that Costco’s fuel was so popular and demand so great that an expansion was essential.
“We’ve seen a great increase in demand for our fuel station offerings. We’re expanding our Costco Canberra Fuel Station so we can better serve our members and save them time,” said Mr Noone.
Head of Property at Canberra Airport and Majura Park, Richard Snow, said the expansion will help Majura Park in continuing its legacy of having some of the most affordable fuel in Canberra.
