October 15, 2026
Regional Queenslanders continue to face vastly different fuel prices depending on where they live, with RACQ’s latest Quarterly Fuel Price Report revealing the cheapest and most expensive towns to fill the tank.
Out of the regional centres monitored by RACQ, Beaudesert was cheapest for regular unleaded, averaging 193.5 cents per litre (cpl) over the September quarter, and Longreach was the most expensive at 229.2cpl.
Tully was most affordable for diesel with stations charging an average of 233.9cpl, while Longreach has the most expensive diesel at 256cpl.
The report also found many regional communities were still cheaper than Brisbane – including Kingaroy (see table below) – despite fuel prices rising sharply across the State and having less market competition.
RACQ spokesperson Tristan Vorias said the soaring prices were largely driven by the fuel excise returning, ongoing global conflicts and a surge in refinery margins.
“Last year, fuel refineries were charging an average margin of 1.2cpl for unleaded – in the September quarter that jumped by more than 2300 per cent to 29cpl,” Mr Vorias said.
“For diesel, last year the average refinery margin was 8cpl compared to 62.3cpl last quarter.
“Meanwhile, the amount service stations made on petrol sales fell from 11cpl in the June quarter to 3.7cpl in the September quarter.
“While big fuel companies appear to be making little profit at the bowser, it seems they are making up for it further upstream at their refineries.”
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Average price for fuel in regional Queensland ranked by cheapest to most expensive (cpl):
