Brothel owner offers petrol discounts

A SYDNEY brothel owner has resorted to offering petrol discounts to clients in a bid to boost business.

Madam Kerry's brothel in western Sydney offers clients a discount of 20c a litre if they use one of its "service providers".

Kerry said high petrol prices were hurting the sex service market as much as any other industry.

"We wanted to think outside the box, we have gone quieter with the high petrol prices and we wanted to find a way to give something back to our clients," Kerry told AAP.

And on top of the money back from the brothel, motorists could still claim the 4c discount offered by service stations aligned with supermarket chains.

"They just need to bring in the docket," Kerry said.

The latest discount petrol offer came as Prime Minister John Howard said he would not be converting his V8 commonwealth car to gas, despite encouraging other Australians to do so.

"There are security considerations," Mr Howard told ABC Radio in Adelaide, when asked why he would not convert the commonwealth's number one vehicle to LPG.

But Mr Howard did say the car used ethanol-blended fuel.

"We use ethanol," he said.

Petrol prices appear to be on the way down anyway, amid welcome news from the world oil market.

Crude prices dropped in New York last night after news the first serious tropical storm of the northern hurricane season had veered away from oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Light sweet crude for October delivery fell US96c to $US69.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The fall extended a $US1.90 drop yesterday, leaving oil futures roughly 10 per cent below their level of just three weeks ago.