MOTORISTS across the region are urged to fuel up before a predicted price hike of around six cents a litre, NRMA warns.
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Drone strikes on oil refineries in Saudi Arabia last weekend have seen world oil prices jump with people in regional NSW to feel the impacts soon.
The attacks knocked out about 50 per cent of the country's production last Sunday, with world oil prices jumping by 10 per cent, or about $9-$10 a barrel.
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"The Saudi government announced production will be back to normal pretty quickly," NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said.
"The likelihood is that we will see prices go up but probably not as much as first anticipated."
Mr Khoury said the flow-on impact from the drone attacks would result in increased fuel prices this weekend or early next week.
The likelihood is that we will see prices go up but probably not as much as first anticipated.
- NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury
"You will see the price increase from about seven to 10 days later [after the attack] in Australia," he said.
"Prices in regional areas don't fluctuate as quickly as in Sydney ... prices won't go up as quickly in regional areas.
On Friday afternoon there was already a 29.6 cent gap between the region's cheapest and most expensive unleaded fuel, the NSW government's FuelCheck website shows.
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Bathurst was home to the cheapest and most expensive fuel at 2pm on Friday, with 130.4 cents a litre at Caltex Kelso and 160.0 at the independent service station in Eglinton.
Mr Khoury said the price of fuel in regional towns always varied and a number of factors resulted in how much motorists pay at the bowser.
"The towns that have the most number of service stations and the most independents have better prices because of the competition.
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"Each town has its own market, in Sydney you get fluctuations in one street," he said.
Mr Khoury said Mudgee often had "consistently higher prices" compared to other towns in the region.
On Friday afternoon in Mudgee, the cheapest unleaded could be purchased at Shell at 144.9 cents a litre, while that jumped to 154.3 at the Independent Mudgee service station on Sydney Road.
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