The latest weekly unleaded petrol price figures show that Maitland, Singleton, Newcastle and the Central Coast took up four of the top five spots on a list of the dearest places to fill-up, out of the 57 locations surveyed across NSW for the week ending May 9.

Maitland had the state's highest average unleaded petrol price for the period at 155.3 cents per litre.

Maitland also had the biggest week-on-week jump in NSW - up by 15.7 cents per litre.

Newcastle recorded a price increase of 12.7 cents per litre, taking it to an average of 151.1 cents per litre for the week.

Meanwhile, the Central Coast saw a price rise of 11.8 cents per litre - to an average of 150.3 cents per litre - and Singleton jumped by 10.2 cents per litre to 151.6 cents per litre.

Muswellbrook, the other Hunter location included in the set of figures, had no price change, remaining at 130.7 cents per litre.

The price of unleaded petrol dropped by 5.2 cents per litre week-on-week in Sydney, with the state capital falling to an average of 133.7 cents per litre.

Gunnedah, in north-eastern NSW, had the cheapest average unleaded petrol price for the week ending May 9 at 129.7 cents per litre.

Locations in the Hunter and Central Coast did not feature in the top five list of the state's most expensive fuel the previous week.

The NRMA's report said factors that affected the cost of petrol over the past week included a 2.1 cents per litre rise in the average price of crude oil in the Asian market and a 2.5 cents per litre jump in the Sydney Terminal Gate Price for regular unleaded - taking it to 128.2 cents per litre.

"Sydney's last price cycle lasted 38 days, seven days shorter than previous cycle," the report noted.

"[Tuesday] is day 26 of the current price cycle, with the average price for regular unleaded fuel in Sydney at 133.6 cents per litre (Monday morning).

"The most expensive point of the current cycle was Thursday 15 April at 156.7 cents per litre for regular unleaded petrol. The highest prices for E10, Premium 95 and Premium 98 were 155.9, 175.0 and 179.3 cents per litre respectively."

The report noted that other influential factors included a 2.1 cents per litre fall in the average Mogas price and the Australian dollar remaining stable.

It predicted Sydney prices would continue to fall in the next week.

"Average regular unleaded prices in Sydney should range between 130 cents per litre (at the low point of the current cycle) and 157 cents per litre (at the high point of the next cycle)," the report said.

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