Granville Unleaded Sits 13 Cents Under Merrylands at the Same Ampol Sign
Drive down Woodville Road from Merrylands towards Parramatta Road in Granville and you pass two Ampol Foodary servos about 1.3 kilometres apart. They carry the same brand and sell the same fuel, and their wholesale costs are near enough the same. At 8am AEST on Thursday 24th Sep 2026, the Granville one was charging 230.9 cents a litre for unleaded. The Merrylands one wanted 243.9.
That 13 cent gap says more about how petrol is priced in Sydney than any wholesale chart.
The old refinery belt still sets the pace
A few kilometres north of Granville, at Clyde, Shell ran one of Australia's oldest refineries from the late 1920s until it stopped refining in 2012. The site lives on as a fuel import terminal, and the suburbs around it are now thick with independent operators.
This morning three Speedway sites in and around Granville, two more in Auburn and an independent Powerfuel on Blaxcell Street were all showing 227.5 for unleaded.
Now look at who each Ampol has for neighbours. The Granville site sits on Parramatta Road with a rival major on the corner of Bold Street, also at 230.9, and Speedway's Blaxcell Street site is under 700 metres away. The Merrylands site's nearest neighbours are another Ampol branded servo on Pitt Street and a big brand site up Woodville Road in Guildford. Both of those were at 243.9.
The gap widens when prices climb
A fortnight ago the difference was about half what it is today. On 10th Sep, just before the Saudi pipeline disruption fed through to Australian wholesale prices, the Granville Ampol was at 203.9 and the Merrylands one at 210.9, a 7 cent gap. Since then Granville has lifted 27 cents and Merrylands 33 cents. Speedway on Blaxcell Street went from 201.5 to 227.5, up 26 cents.
Everybody's costs went up, and the independents passed that on too. But where a discounter sets the local benchmark, the majors have added roughly what the wholesale market added. Where the nearest competitor is another major, there's been room for a few cents more.
Diesel is the same, only more so. Regular diesel at Powerfuel and the Speedway sites was 268.5, against 289.9 at Ampol in Auburn. That gap was 10.4 cents a fortnight ago and is 21.4 cents now.
Fairfield against Bondi
Across the city the spread is wider again. In Fairfield, two Speedway sites were at 223.5 this morning, matched by Metro at Lansdowne. Even the Ampol Foodary at Lansvale was at 225.5.
On the other side of town, Ampol Foodary Bondi North wanted 247.9 and BP Bondi 245.9. That's the same Ampol sign 22.4 cents apart. The 14 servos within 2.5 kilometres of Fairfield averaged 230.2, while the four around Bondi averaged 247.2.
On a 60 litre tank, that's about $13 between the cheapest bowser in Fairfield and the cheapest in Bondi.
Why the big brands price street by street
Fuel retailers don't set a Sydney price. They set a price for each site, benchmarked against whatever a motorist can see from the forecourt. The ACCC has made the point for years that independent chains are what keep a lid on local prices, and western Sydney is about the clearest example of that anywhere in NSW.
NSW drivers are well armed by international standards. Britain's competition regulator spent 2023 recommending a compulsory real time price feed after concluding that competition at the pump had weakened. NSW has required servos to report their price changes since 2016, so the data is there for anyone who checks it.
The practical upshot for your wallet
- If you commute along Woodville Road, fill up in Granville rather than Merrylands. Thirteen cents on 50 litres is $6.50 a week without changing your route.
- Don't assume a brand means a price. The same Ampol sign ranged from 225.5 to 247.9 across Sydney this morning. Compare Ampol stations against the independents on our unleaded petrol prices page before you pull in.
- Diesel drivers have the most to gain right now, with a 21 cent spread between near neighbours. Check diesel prices around you before your next fill.
- Put next Wednesday, 30th Sep, in the diary. That's when the stockholding relief I wrote about last week ends and fuel companies must carry their full reserves again.
The fuel industry rarely makes headlines until prices spike, but in a rising market the biggest saving often comes from where you fill up rather than when. Keep an eye on this space.
