Geelong and Bendigo Servos Doing the Right Thing as Victorian Pumps Ease
Right, so I've been keeping an eye on the Victorian numbers this week, and I reckon you'll wanna hear this one if you're filling up anywhere near Geelong or out Bendigo way. The servos down that end are doing the right thing by locals right now, no two ways about it.
Here's the thing, right. As of 19th Jun 2026 around 2pm AEST, the Victoria diesel average is sitting at 195.5 cents, down 2.7 cents on yesterday. That's a modest easing across the state, nothing to write home about, but when you look closer at where the cheap pumps actually are, the regional and outer suburbs are leaving the big smoke for dead.
Take Grovedale and Belmont down in the Geelong region. Both are showing diesel around 179.9 cents. Over on the Bellarine, Drysdale is sitting close behind at 180.7. That's roughly 15 cents under the state average. On a 60 litre fill that's about nine bucks back in your pocket, near enough to a slab and a coffee on the way home. Fair dinkum, the difference between filling up in Geelong and copping the average price adds up quick.
It's not just Geelong either. Up in the goldfields, Bendigo has diesel at 178.9 and neighbouring Epsom is even sharper at 177.3. Out in Gippsland, Moe is holding 177.5. Down the far west coast, Portland is one of the cheapest in the state at 174.9. These are the towns quietly winning while everyone else moans about prices.
Now, you petrol drivers, don't feel left out. The same servos that sharpen their diesel usually do the right thing on unleaded too, because a servo that wants your ute business wants your hatchback business as well. If you're running standard unleaded or E10, the play is the same as always. Watch the cycle and fill on the cheap side of it rather than the day after the price jumps. Have a squiz at the best time to fill up guide if you want to time it properly, because in the bigger Melbourne market the gap between a good day and a bad day can be 30 cents or more.
Speaking of the big smoke, the outer Melbourne suburbs are pulling their weight as well. Cranbourne West and Cranbourne North are showing diesel around 179 cents, and Campbellfield up the north is similar at 179.5. Compare that to the inner Melbourne servos where you'll cop a fair bit more, and you can see why it pays to fill up on the fringe if you're heading out that way anyway.
And you'd be mad not to do a quick check before you pull in. Prices move twice a day on the official feeds, and a servo that was cheap last week might have crept up since. I always have a look at the diesel prices page before a big run so I'm not getting taken for a ride at the bowser.
A quick word on the regional thing, because people ask me about it all the time. You'd reckon the bush would always be dearer given the trucking costs, but it doesn't always work like that. Towns like Bendigo and Geelong have enough servos competing that none of them can take the mick for long. One drops their price, the others follow, and the locals cop it sweet. In the smaller one servo towns it's a different story, so if you're touring through the back blocks, fill up in the bigger centres where you've got a bit of choice.
Worth watching too is whether this easing sticks around. The state average has only nudged down a couple of cents, so this isn't some big relief across the board. It's more that the sharp operators in the regions and on the metro fringe are using a quiet week to win a bit of loyalty. Good on them, I reckon. That's exactly how it should work.
Look, end of the day, Victoria isn't the cheapest state in the country right now, but the value is well and truly there if you know where to point the ute. Geelong, Bendigo and the Gippsland towns are doing the right thing, the outer Melbourne suburbs are competitive, and a two minute check before you fill means more cash in your pocket for the important stuff. Can't argue with that.
