Shopper-docket discounts not to blame for record fuel prices, claim Coles and Woolworths CommSec senior economist Craig James says the massive petrol price hikes have not been fuelled by shopper-docket discounts offered by Coles and Woolworths. Picture: News Corp Source: Supplied RETAILERS have insisted it is a happy coincidence that big shopper-docket fuel discounts are being offered at the same time as petrol prices have soared to a record high. Woolworths is offering discounts of between 16 and 45 cents a litre for customers who spend up big on groceries, while Coles is knocking off between 20 and 40 cents a litre for spending in excess of $100 at their supermarkets. At the same time, many Shell Coles Express and Woolworths Caltex service stations have jacked up the price of unleaded to 166.9 cents a litre, and premium unleaded to 183.9. A Woolworths' spokeswoman denied it was anything but a coincidence that the discounts were being offered as the price hikes occurred. "We're absolutely a price follower on petrol, we never set the price," she said. That's very much set by market forces. Coles' spokesman Jon Church said there was no link between petrol prices and fuel discounts offered. "There are a number of factors which affect the price of fuel including exchange rates and global oil prices," Mr Church said. CommSec senior economist Craig James backed the retailers, saying petrol prices had been on the way up for a while and Friday night's hike in Brisbane was in line with normal price cycle fluctuations. "There is further to go (in terms of price rises)," Mr James said. It all gets down to the simple fact there is more demand in the world for fuel and the Aussie dollar is weaker against the American currency. He said the shopper discounts had come "just at the right time." "There's a lot of motorists who will be quite grateful that Coles and Woolworths are coming up with shopper-docket discounts that can ease some of that pain," Mr James said. I think if you fill up a 70-litre car, you'll be saving $14. That's not a drop in the ocean. That's quite significant. Chairman of the Service Stations and Convenience Stores Association of Queensland, Tim Kane, said not all outlets had gone to 166.9 cents a litre, and it paid to shop around. "On the Sunshine Coast, the highest is about $1.52 a litre which is the wholesale price," Mr Kane said. They're not getting anything out of that but competition's so fierce they have to. He said the big price jump in Brisbane was really a correction. "They've been selling for below cost so there has to be an increase or none of us will survive," he said. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is investigating shopper-docket schemes but Mr Kane said the inquiry was not expected to amount to much. "There've been 32 government inquiries into the petrol industry," he said. What that's amounted to, I don't know.