The short answer is, quite possibly, yes.

"If we don't get to a dollar, we will get very close to it," National Roads and Motorists Association spokesman Peter Khoury said.

The last time the average national petrol price was below a dollar was in the the week of February 12-20, 2005. Kerry Packer was still alive, Mario's Let Me Love You, was No.1 on the billboard charts, Ricky Ponting had just captained his first home test series and Schapelle Corby was yet to be convicted.

The fundamental reason for the recent steep drop in petrol prices – down to a national average of $1.21 a  litre, and selling for as little as 109.9¢ in Sydney on Tuesday, is a price war, between new cheap gas in the United States and the oil-producing countries in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi has upped the ante, telling the Middle East Economic Survey that it is up to other countries to cut petrol production, not OPEC.

"As a policy for OPEC, and I convinced OPEC of this, even Mr al-Badri (OPEC secretary-general) is now convinced, it is not in the interest of OPEC producers to cut their production, whatever the price is," the MIddle East Economic Survey quoted Mr Naimi as saying.

And Naimi didn't finish there, stating unequivocally (and for some OPEC competitors, ominously) that "whether it [the oil barrel price] goes down to $US20 ($24), $US40, $US50, $US60, it is irrelevant."

So what now concerns Australian consumers and businesses is what would it take to bring petrol back down to $1 per litre 10 years after it last hit that low.

First, despite the price of a barrel of Brent Crude oil currently fetching around $60 a barrel, a further precipitous drop would be required to bring the retail petrol price back further.

The underlying factors need to be considered, according to Commonwealth Bank chief economist Craig James.

In that magical February week in 2005 when the national price averaged 98.5c, the Australian dollar was buying US78.80c, compared to US81.20c this morning. While similar, the dollar's buying power is now slightly better than 2005.

However, the price of oil out of Singapore was substantially cheaper. "In 2005 the Singapore gas land price was around $55 a barrel, today  the price is closer to $70, the overnight price was $71.40," Mr James said.

"What we need  to see is another $20 to $25 a barrel fall to get  down to that level," he said.

"Is that unthinkable? Well, no. Overnight the Saudi Minister for oil further upped the ante saying opec would  not production."

"There is a price war happening at the moment, as Saudi Arabia is trying to squeeze out higher cost producers," he said.

The other great piece of news for motorists, is that in metro centres, petrol retailers are not using the oil price drop to improve their margins.

NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said that the average petrol price in Sydney on Tuesday was 1.16 per litre, only 4 cents higher than the average gate price of $1.12, driven by strong retail competition.

"With Coles and Woollies setting their price at $1.14, I can't see the independents putting their prices up any time soon," Mr Khoury said, adding that most of the independents had been below $1.14 for "at least a week anyway".

"I think like the rest of the country, the NRMA  would be over the moon about sub- one dollar petrol," he said.

However, a comparative lack of competition has meant that petrol is still more expensive in Brisbane, the northern territory and Tasmania, Mr Khoury said.

In a note published on Monday, the Commonwealth bank showed that the average household is now saving $32 per week on petrol compared to the same time last year, the equivalent of a 0.25 per cent cut in the official cash rate by the Reserve Bank.