NRMA fumes over price gap between petrols THE NRMA has called for an inquiry to explain the growing price gap between premium and E10 fuel as unleaded petrol has become increasingly unavailable in petrol stations. The average price gap in Sydney between E10 - a blend of 90 per cent petrol and 10 per cent ethanol - and most expensive 98-octane premium unleaded fuel has widened from 14¢ in 2008 to 17.4¢ last year, figures from the NRMA show. As motorists are increasingly buying cars that recommend premium unleaded while other motorists refuse to use E10, a "cornered market" has emerged, the NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said. "Motorists who use [premium petrol] overwhelmingly have no other choice and the oil companies know that," he said. Figures show there has been a 35 per cent increase in cars - both European and high performance - bought in the past five years that are recommended to use premium petrol. The NRMA and the Australian Automobile Association have called on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to put pressure on the major oil companies to explain why the price gap between E10 and premium 95 and 98 petrols continues to widen. In a 2009 submission to the ACCC, the NRMA estimated the gap between regular unleaded and premium 98 petrol should be about 8¢. According to figures from the NRMA, the average gap is presently 15.9¢. "The lack of transparency and the lack of competition has resulted in prices, particularly for the premium fuels, being higher than we believe they should be," Mr Khoury said. There is no "rational" reason why the gap is widening, the executive director of the Australian Automobile Association, Andrew McKellar, said. "There is a concern that motorists [here] are getting ripped off," he said. It's an issue that we feel the regulatory authorities aren't appropriately grappling with ... and not holding the major suppliers in the market adequately to account. It is extremely hard to justify. The ACCC commissioner, Joe Dimasi, said the demand on premium petrol was coming from motorists who didn't need to use it, but saw no alternative to using E10. "There is a lot fewer service stations that sell regular unleaded petrol because they sell E10," he said. That seems to have caused a big demand spike [for premium fuel] in NSW and Sydney.. When asked what the ACCC could do to put pressure on the big fuel companies, Mr Dimasi said: "The important thing is that motorists who don't need to use premium should avoid it." But despite a "resistance" to E10 in NSW, there has also been a 35 per cent increase of cars bought whose manufacturers recommend premium petrol. According to figures compiled by Fairfax and using data from the Federal Chamber of Automobile Industries there has been a growth of about 27,600 new high-performance and luxury cars between 2008 and 2012. During the same time there has been a 2.4 per cent fall in the amount of cars that require regular unleaded petrol or E10, the figures show, while cars that use diesel has increased by 13 per cent. "In Europe the standard fuel is equivalent to the standard fuel we sell in this market," Mr McKellar said. The Caltex spokesman Sam Collyer said fuel retailing in Australia was "highly competitive." "Retail concentration is relatively low and profitability on fuel is small," he said. Caltex is expected to close its Kurnell refinery late next year. Shell distanced itself from the debate, saying it was "not a retailer of fuel at service stations in Australia, but is a fuel wholesaler to Coles Express."