More Queensland drivers are filling up at service stations and driving off without paying, amid escalating petrol prices and rising costs of living.
The industry says reported fuel drive-offs have jumped 18 per cent across the state over the past year to date, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to drive up fuel prices globally.
Police data showed, in Brisbane alone, fuel drive-offs rose 18 per cent between October 1 last year and September 30 compared with the same period in 2020-21.
Across the city, 6,539 fuel drive-offs were reported between October 2020 and September 2021; this year, that number had risen to 7,743.
Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association chief executive Mark McKenzie said the spike in thefts was not a surprise, but on average it was costing service stations $9,600 annually.
"We've certainly seen a fairly significant increase in the first six months of this year on the back of the escalating fuel prices associated with the Russia-Ukraine crisis," Mr McKenzie said.
"It's eased a little bit in the past three months, certainly as we've seen petrol prices and global oil prices come off.
"But on a year-to-date basis across Queensland, we're up 18 per cent on the previous year."
Security systems
Mr McKenzie said service stations were installing sophisticated security systems and taking advantage of number plate recognition technology that could flag if a repeat offender tried to fill up.
In that instance, he said, the driver might be required to pre-pay for their fuel before filling up.
Service stations are also increasingly requiring people to pre-pay at night when data shows fuel thefts are most common.
"This has been a massive problem — this costs the industry about $82 million per year if you look right across the country in total," Mr McKenzie said.
Fuel thefts were typically reported to the police and about 60 to 70 per cent of the money lost was recovered, he said.
But in a vicious circle, the more drive-offs occur, the more likely it is service stations will increase prices to recover.
"If you look at the average margin service stations make, it's about 2.8 to 3 cents a litre profit," Mr McKenzie said.
"But when fuel is actually stolen, I'm not just losing the profit and cost. I'm losing the wholesale price I paid as well.
"It will typically take another 300 customers for me to break even with one drive-off."
The new data comes as Brisbane endures record diesel prices of 233 cents per litre on Tuesday, leaping to 239.9 cents per litre on Wednesday afternoon.
On Wednesday morning, RACQ spokeswoman Lauren Cooney said fuel companies had begun the first fuel spike following the reintroduction of the fuel excise, with unleaded jumping to 214.9 cents per litre at some Brisbane sites.
Ms Cooney said diesel prices were directly linked to international factors, rather than retailers driving prices.
Number plate thefts
Acting Inspector Geoff Douglas from the South Brisbane District police command said number plate thefts were closely linked to fuel drive-offs.
"That just delays the identification of the person … it slows down the police investigative process," he said.
Number plate registration thefts across Brisbane also increased in the past year, with 2,485 reports to police of stolen plates between October 2020 and September 2021 versus 3,078 reports this year.
Acting Inspector Douglas said residents could secure their number plates using specific anti-theft screws available at hardware stores.
