Burpengary Unleaded Is 27 Cents Dearer Than Morayfield, but Its Diesel Is Not
All four servos in Burpengary and Burpengary East were charging 245.9 cents a litre for unleaded at 2:15pm AEDT on 14th Nov 2026 (1:15pm in Queensland). About 5 km north, the six Morayfield servos listing unleaded had it at 216.5 to 219.9, with four of them on 218.9. That's a gap of 27 cents between neighbouring suburbs, or $13.50 on a 50 litre fill. All prices here come from Queensland's official fuel price reporting scheme.
Same badges, different prices
Brand doesn't explain the gap. 7 Eleven Burpengary is on 245.9 and 7 Eleven Morayfield is on 218.9. Ampol Foodary Burpengary is on 245.9 too, against 218.9 at Ampol Foodary Morayfield East. EG Ampol Burpengary and 7 Eleven Burpengary East make it four from four.
Of the two suburbs, Burpengary is the outlier. Leaving Burpengary East aside, the 20 servos within 7 km of central Caboolture range from 214.5 at United Caboolture to 227.9. To the south in Narangba, BP Narangba is on 229.9. Among the 200 servos nearest the Brisbane CBD, the median is 215.9 and the dearest is 239.9.
How the gap opened
For most of October the two 7 Eleven servos were within 4 cents of each other. On 30th October, Burpengary was on 249.9 and Morayfield on 245.9.
Then wholesale costs fell. The Australian Institute of Petroleum's average terminal gate price for unleaded in Brisbane, which is roughly what a servo pays at the depot, dropped from 225.6 on 30th October to 196.0 on 13th November. That's 29.5 cents in two weeks.
Since then, the daily record shows seven cuts at 7 Eleven Morayfield, 27 cents in total, and a single 4 cent cut at 7 Eleven Burpengary. Ampol Foodary Burpengary moved first on Thursday, and within two days the other three had landed on exactly the same 245.9.
So the gap between Burpengary's price and the wholesale price has doubled, from about 24 cents to about 50. That gap isn't all profit, because it also has to cover freight, wages, rent and card fees, but those costs did not double in a fortnight.
The diesel test
Diesel is the most useful clue. If Burpengary were simply a dearer place to run a servo, every fuel would cost more there, and diesel doesn't. The two Burpengary 7 Elevens charge 266.9 and 267.9 for diesel, and the two Morayfield 7 Elevens charge 265.5 and 270.9. E10, though, repeats the unleaded pattern: 243.9 at all four Burpengary servos against 216.9 at four in Morayfield.
Think of it this way. If a cafe charges $2 more for a coffee than the cafe in the next suburb, but the same for a sandwich, higher rent can't be the explanation, because rent would lift both. The more likely answer is that it faces less competition on coffee. Diesel tends to track wholesale costs more closely everywhere, with less local discounting, so it gives a cleaner read on costs.
Why would competition differ 5 km apart?
The key factor here is who is selling in each market. Caboolture and Morayfield have United at 214.5 and 216.5, Metro at 216.5 and the independent Arko Energy at 217.9. A low price seller like that gives the bigger chains a reason to follow, because drivers can see the cheaper board up the road. Economists call such a seller a maverick.
Burpengary's four sites carry three convenience chain badges and no maverick. Three of the four sit within 700 metres of each other, so each can read the others' boards. Matching a neighbour is ordinary and legal, and the price data can't tell us what any head office intends. It does show that nobody in Burpengary has had to answer a cheaper neighbour.
What to do
If you buy unleaded or E10 in Burpengary, the 5 km run to Morayfield currently saves $13.50 on a 50 litre fill. Compare unleaded petrol prices and E10 prices before you leave, and try your own numbers in the savings calculator. If you drive a diesel, fill wherever suits, because diesel prices are level across the two suburbs.
Burpengary has moved in steps of 3 or 4 cents since the end of September, so the thing to watch is whether a second cut follows this week's first.