St Albans Unleaded Lifts 9 Cents as Melbourne Servos Start the Climb
Right, so a mate rang me from Melbourne yesterday arvo having a whinge about the price boards out west. I had a look at the numbers this morning and I reckon he's got a point. The Melbourne cycle has turned, and the western suburbs copped it first.
What St Albans is paying
As of Friday 18th Sep 2026 8:12am AEST, unleaded across the seven servos in St Albans is averaging 239.7 a litre. That's up 8.9 cents on yesterday's reading, which is a fair jump for one day. Here's the thing, right. One servo taking the mick doesn't move the average across seven of them by nearly nine cents. All of them going up together is the cycle kicking back into the climb.
Across town it's the same story. South Melbourne unleaded has lifted 9.6 cents to 240.9 across five servos. So a tradie in the west and an office type near the CBD are paying near enough the same this morning. Normally there's a bit of a gap between the inner city and the outer west. Right now there's about a cent in it.
Nine cents on a 50 litre tank is about $4.50 a fill. Not the end of the world on its own, but if you're filling the ute twice a week for work, that's nine bucks a week, or a couple of schooners you're not having Friday arvo.
Premium and diesel not far behind
Premium's gone up out west too. Premium 98 in Truganina has lifted 9.9 cents to 258.9 across ten servos, and next door in Tarneit it's up 9.2 cents to 256.7. If you're running something that needs the good stuff, that's near enough a 20 cent gap over standard unleaded in St Albans. Have a squiz at the premium 98 prices page before you commit, because the gap between two servos can be bigger than the gap between two fuels.
Down the other end of town, diesel is on the move. Seaford diesel has lifted 12.4 cents to 278.4 across six servos, and Frankston is up 9.4 cents to 274.6. The Victoria diesel average has lifted 4.3 cents to 275.0 as of this morning, so Frankston is sitting right on the state number and Seaford is a few cents over it.
Where the cheaper tanks are
Now, you'd be mad not to look at where the diesel is holding. North Geelong has a servo at 255.9 with the average across three sitting at 260.8, and Epsom up Bendigo way has the cheapest at 257.3. Even Bright in the high country, where you'd usually expect to pay extra for being a long way from anywhere, has all three servos sitting on 259.9.
Put that against Seaford at 278.4 and you're looking at a 22 cent difference. On a 60 litre ute tank, that's over $13 a fill. Nobody's driving from Seaford to Geelong for fuel, obviously, but if you're heading down the highway for work anyway, hold off and fill there. The diesel prices page is the one to keep an eye on for the day to day.
What I'd do this week
When St Albans and South Melbourne both lift nine cents on the same day, the Melbourne cycle has started its climb, and it'll usually keep stepping up for a bit before it settles. The climb is normally the short part of the cycle, though. The slow drift back down takes weeks, so there's a lot more cheap days than dear ones if you're patient.
If your tank is near empty, fill it today, because tomorrow's probably not going to be kinder. If you've got half a tank, hang on and top up on the way down. The best time to fill up page will tell you where your suburb sits in the cycle, which beats guessing. And keep an eye on the unleaded petrol prices across Melbourne, because the servos that held off on this lift will show up as the cheap ones for the next few days, and that's where you want to be.
Look, end of the day, nine cents is nine cents. Fill now if you have to, wait if you can, and there's a bit more in your pocket for the stuff that matters. Can't argue with that.
