Matt Bedford / Fairfax media

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines and get down to the servo, because the average fuel price in Australia has hit a 12-year low, and prices like this can't last forever. The last time petrol was this cheap, Shannon Noll's 'What About Me' was the top song and a Tassie girl called Mary Donaldson was preparing to marry Frederick, Crown Prince of Denmark. Figures released by the NRMA on Thursday confirmed prices for regular unleaded petrol had fallen in line with wholesale fuel prices at an average of 97 cents per litre with a low of 91 cents, while E10 and diesel were down to a low of 88.9 cents. NRMA's fuel price analysis Regular Average: 97.0 Low: 91.4 High: 129.4 E10 Average: 94.8 Low: 88.9 High: 119.9 Premium 95 Average: 108.4 Low: 109.9 High: 138.9 Premium 98 Average: 114.7 Low: 105.9 High: 142.9 Diesel Average: 107.8 Low: 88.9 High: 127.8 LPG Average: 59.8 Low: 54.5 High: 69.9 The question is: why so low? Petrol prices rely on the cost of its main component crude oil, which -- along with pirate rum -- is priced per barrel. The Australian Institute of Petroleum, which has member companies BP, Viva Energy Australia, Mobil and Caltex, has put together this chart of the declining cost of crude oil prices and the Singapore petrol price, which Australians rely on.

This is caused by simple supply and demand. As it stands, Saudi Arabia has flooded the market with oil, which has driven the price down, and oil minister Ali Al-Naimi reportedly said there wouldn't be any reduction in production. Meanwhile economic sanctions in Iran were recently lifted, allowing its oil to be sold more readily. Then there's the U.S., which, instead of relying on OPEC oil, has increasingly been mining its own since 2011. As for demand, China's economic slowdown means one of the world's largest consumers was not buying at the levels it had previously. UNSW Business School Director of the Institute of Global Finance Fariborz Moshirian said there was nothing to suggest these factors would change any time soon. "Generally, the supply of oil is not going to abate," Moshirian told HuffPost Australia. "Demand is down due to slow economic growth in China and other emerging countries. It is possible that the oil price remains at $30 to $35 for the foreseeable future." Moshirian said a deeper analysis of oil prices revealed immense political forces. "Oil is a major political force," Moshirian said. "There's a suggestion that Saudi Arabia is driving down the price of oil so shale oil exploration in the U.S. is not successful." University of Western Australia professor of finance Richard Heaney said the current price reduction could be a reflection of an unraveling of high-cost oil markets. "There's a massive supply but as China pulls back on demand, and other emerging economies are requiring less oil, the price is going to decline considerably," Heaney said. "I think we're going to see a situation where the high-cost crude oil producers aren't going to survive. "The whole market's been seriously screwed up and I think there could be some big players burnt."

I just got petrol for under 90c! It legit hasn't been that cheap ever whilst I've had a license! #adultthings — Emily Conroy (@TheOnlyEmcon) February 24, 2016

For all the aussies out there. I dont think ive seen petrol this cheap as an adult before. #thevaluepic.twitter.com/HVtvHPuC71 — OfficialKordGaming (@KordGaming) February 23, 2016

How longs it been since petrol was this cheap pic.twitter.com/ONZU0vE2KV — Sarkha Fredrick (@SarkhaF) February 24, 2016