CITY of Greater Bendigo mayor Peter Cox and Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters have welcomed news the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will investigate fuel price discrepancies in city and country areas.

Cr Cox and Ms Chesters have each written to the ACCC in recent weeks calling for investigations into high fuel prices in the Bendigo and central Victorian region.

Ms Chesters said it was a "good first step" but did have concerns with the scope of the investigations and that central Victoria could miss out.

"My concern is that in limiting the investigation to three markets, they may not be able to unpack what’s happening (more broadly)," she said.

"I’d like to see them concentrate on central Victoria, it stinks what’s going on in our region.

"There's no guarantee that of the three centres Bendigo will be on the list, or any Victorian town for that matter." 

While Ms Chesters agreed with ACCC chairman Rod Sims that transparency and exposure was important, she said it might not be enough to pressure some fuel markets to drop prices.

She said Kyneton and Woodend were examples of places where consumer pressure was unlikely to lead to price drops. 

"I don’t believe exposure will lead to prices coming down, fuel stations know people have to drive far to get fuel," she said.

"The government does need to step in and play more of an active role in the space."

Cr Cox said he hoped the region's proximity to Melbourne would help its case with the ACCC. 

"I would hope that central Victoria might be one of them because we are so close to Melbourne, yet a price difference of about an average of 12 cents per litre is significant," he said.

"We're only 120km away. You would think in studying that area you would very quickly get an understanding of those prices and why those prices are so different.

"It would make sense to study central Victoria."

Cr Cox said he was in it for the long haul despite being "quite disappointed" he had not yet had a response from the ACCC since his January 5 letter. 

"I don’t expect an answer on the difference overnight, this issue will brew over the next 12 months," he said. 

"The outcome must be that we have fair prices for both metro and country motorists."

He said he was interested in a long-term campaign to get the region's petrol prices down.

"This week I wrote to all the mayors in regional and rural Victoria," he said.

"We all need to be telling our stories about petrol prices and our localities.

"I’ve been keen to hear from people as well. If people have information that might boost the council’s case for a study in central Victoria, I’d be more than pleased to hear from people."

In ACCC spokesperson said the commission could not comment on any correspondence it had received regarding fuel prices, nor the areas it would investigate.

"The geographic areas that will be examined in the 'micro' reports have yet to be determined and will not be made public until after the ACCC issues its information gathering notices," the spokesperson said.

"However, the quarterly reports will cover fuel price movements in all capital cities and around 180 regional locations. 

"Bendigo is one of the 180 regional locations that the ACCC monitors."