Bundaberg's Barolin Street Unleaded Gap Topped 10 Cents, Then Closed to Under a Cent in Eight Days
*Prices as at 17th Oct 2026 7:00am AEST, from Queensland's official fuel price reporting scheme.*
To make sense of unleaded prices in Bundaberg this fortnight, start with one short stretch of road. Three servos sit within about 200 metres of each other on Barolin Street: Solo, Mobil and EG Ampol. Solo and Mobil are just 70 metres apart. Over the past ten days they gave a textbook example of how prices behave when rivals are close together.
What happened on Barolin Street
In the first week of October, Solo Bundaberg Central and Mobil Bundaberg were both on 233.5 cents a litre for unleaded. EG Ampol Bundaberg West, a block along in Bundaberg West, was about 5 cents higher at 238.9.
On the night of 7th Oct, EG Ampol lodged 245.9, and briefly 247.9 the next day. Solo and Mobil moved too, but only to 235.5, and not until the night of 9th Oct. The gap between the neighbours reached 14.4 cents on 8th Oct and stayed above 10 cents for five days.
EG Ampol then came back down in four steps: 241.9 on 12th Oct, 239.9 on 15th Oct, 236.9 that night and 235.9 early on 16th Oct. This morning it is 0.8 cents above Solo (235.1) and 0.7 above Mobil (235.2).
Was it just higher costs?
You might be wondering whether EG Ampol was simply passing on a wholesale increase. Across Queensland, the typical servo lifted unleaded by 2 to 4 cents between 6th and 10th Oct, and EG Ampol sites statewide moved by a median of 2 cents. Solo and Mobil's 2 cent lift fits that pattern. The 7 cent jump at Bundaberg West was well above it.
The kinked demand curve
Economists have a model for exactly this. Think of it this way. Two cafes side by side sell the same flat white. If one puts its price up by a dollar and the other doesn't, plenty of customers simply walk a few metres. If one cuts its price, the other quickly matches, so the cut wins very few new customers. Either way, straying from the going price doesn't pay.
Drawn on a chart, this is a demand curve with a bend, or kink, at the current price. Above the kink, demand is very sensitive to price (elastic), because rivals don't follow a rise. Below it, demand barely responds (inelastic), because rivals match a cut. That's why prices among a few close competitors tend to stick together.
Barolin Street fits the model. EG Ampol raised its price, its neighbours didn't follow, and within days it stepped back towards the pack. We can't see litres sold, so we can't prove drivers crossed the road, but the price path is what the model predicts.
The premium itself wasn't new. For three weeks before the lift, EG Ampol sat 1 to 5 cents above Solo and Mobil. Some drivers will pay a few cents more for a brand or a loyalty program, but more than 10 cents appears to have been past their limit.
Not every servo came back
The difference is distance. Ampol Foodary on Bourbong Street has sat at 245.2 since 12th Oct, and EG Ampol Bargara on the coast has held between 245.9 and 248.9 for three weeks. Bargara is about 12 km from Barolin Street, so for a local topping up, the walk across the road becomes a 15 minute drive. The kink only bites when a cheaper rival is close by.
Hervey Bay and Maryborough
Elsewhere in the Wide Bay, the ten Hervey Bay servos with a current price sit between 235.9 and 240.9, the tightest spread in the region. In Maryborough, the CBD majors reached 246.9 to 247.9 between 9th and 13th Oct. EG Ampol has since dropped back to 239.9, but 7 Eleven Maryborough is still on 245.9. Atlas Fuel St Helens and the Ned Kelly servo on Gympie Road are on 236.9.
What this means at the bowser
The cheapest unleaded in Bundaberg this morning is 234.9 at United Bundaberg on Walker Street, with Solo, Freedom Fuels and Kas Targo all on 235.1. Paying 245.2 instead adds about $6 to a 60 litre fill, which you can check with our savings calculator. If your car runs on E10, Mobil Bundaberg and Freedom Fuels are both on 231.2, about 4 cents under their unleaded.
Once you know how the kinked demand curve works, it's easier to see why Barolin Street prices tend to travel together, and why a servo that strays well above its close neighbours may not stay there for long. Before you fill up, compare unleaded petrol prices nearby on our interactive fuel map.