A petrol price war has erupted in Sydney with two petrol stations dropping their prices to below a dollar today in protest at the way independent operators are being driven out by big companies and supermarkets.
The move caused hour-long traffic queues, with angry drivers shouting and sounding horns as their frustration mounted.
With the going rate about $1.46 a litre, the independently owned BP station on Sunnyholt Road in Blacktown dropped its price to 94.9 cents a litre this morning.
But the anger of waiting motorists grew more visible this afternoon when the BP station, rapidly running out of fuel, raised its price to $1.39 a litre.
"We're just trying to be competitive," said one of the staff. "We're a family orientated business and we're just trying to survive."
He said the business couldn't continue to take so much money out of its own pockets, it needed to remain competitive and $1.39 was still a competitive price.
Earlier, the station's manager said: "We are a small business in this area and the [big] companies are fighting small businesses out of the market.
"We are trying to survive ... this is our voice; let people hear about it."
United, also on Sunnyholt Road, dropped its price to 94.9 cents a litre this morning, but called off the protest this afternoon and stopped selling when it almost ran out of fuel. A delivery is expected soon.
Police were trying to control traffic flow but said it was close to gridlock.
Carl Partridge, 21, was given leave by his boss to go and fill up quickly while the price was still below $1.
But 2½ hours later he was still in the queue and the price had gone up 40 cents a litre.
"I'm pretty pissed off," he said. "They shouldn't be allowed to do it. They put it down to 99 cents. They should do it for the rest of the day, not just for whenever they feel like it ... it's unfair."
He said he had seen at least six verbal fights in the queue. "It's not a pretty sight," he said.
Navneet Kaur, also 21, lined up for more than an hour. She joined the queue when prices were 94 cents, but as she neared the front they had reached more than $1.39.
She saved about $6 on a tank that would usually have cost her $70.
"I was so angry, it was ridiculous ... it wasn't worth the wait."
Ron Bowden, chief executive of the Service Station Association, encouraged the small stations to challenge the big companies.
"The number of service stations are declining and that's principally because of the encroachment of big business, particularly from supermarkets," he said.
