And peak motoring body NRMA says the information could save Hunter motorists as much as $500 a year.

The state government unveiled its FuelCheck website on Wednesday – a platform that people can use to search their suburb, town or postcode and be instantly presented with a list of real-time fuel prices and locations.

It also contains weekly, monthly and annual petrol price trends for all fuel types – from E10 unleaded to diesel.

The government has made the raw data freely available to any third party organisations that want to publish it on their own platform.

NRMA announced on Thursday that it had included a new section on its tablet and smart phone application – My NRMA – for people to look up and compare petrol prices.

NRMA president Kyle Loades said real-time petrol prices in the hands of motorists meant there had been a power shift.

He said the data would forever change the way petrol was purchased in the Hunter.

“By forcing service stations to post prices in real time, the power will rest in the hands of the informed motorists rather than the oil companies,” Mr Loades said.

“Savings for motorists will be monumental if they check this data before jumping in the car to fill up. 

“By finding the cheapest local service station every time you fill up you could save $500 a year.”

A quick search of the website on Thursday revealed the cheapest E10 unleaded petrol in Maitland at 2pm was 101.7c/l, while the most expensive was 109.9c/l.

The range in Newcastle city was 96.9c/l to 104.9c/l, while the spread in Cessnock was 115.3c/l to 115.6c/l.

FuelCheck predicted a seven-day statewide average of 116.4c/l, peaking at 117.0c/l on Saturday after it hit a low point of 114.7c/l on Thursday.

NSW Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Victor Dominello said the data would help motorists get the best deal.

“Making petrol price information publicly available online is a game changer – it enables motorists to identify where the cheapest fuel is before they commence their journey,” he said.

“FuelCheck is the first of its kind in Australia and will deliver a better deal for motorists by boosting competition and transparency in the fuel sector.”

It will be up to individual service station operators to change their fuel prices online when they alter the price boards at their premises.

Motorists can lodge a complaint with NSW Fair Trading if prices at the pump don’t match those on the FuelCheck website. The site is available on all web-enabled devices.