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Tuesday, May 12, 2020 – 2:58 p.m.
The latest updates by the fuel price tracker Fuel Kaki, administered by the Singapore Consumers Association, showed that the price of 95 octane gasoline, the most popular grade here, had dropped five cents to S $ 1.99 per liter. on all brands.
This fell from S $ 2.04 last week, when fuel retailers lowered prices by between five and six Singapore cents per liter after the drop in oil prices.
The cheapest 92 octane grade is now S $ 1.95 per liter across the board, except for Shell and Sinopec, which do not offer this grade.
The 98 octane rating ranges from S $ 2.33 in SPC to S $ 2.47 in Caltex. The so-called special grades of Shell and Sinopec are sold at retail for S $ 2.60 and S $ 2.50, respectively. All prices are before discounts.
Observers estimate that the latest five-cent cuts translate into a 20-25 percent reduction in wholesale fuel prices, which in turn follows the recent drop in crude oil rates. Wholesale fuel is currently estimated to represent only 15 percent of the cost of a liter of gasoline here.
Meanwhile, diesel remains unchanged at S $ 1.64 in SPC and S $ 1.67 elsewhere. Oil consultant Ong Eng Tong said this may be because demand for diesel has been relatively optimistic given that buses and freight vehicles are still running, while cars are less used now with the “circuit breaker.”
Ong noted that West Texas Intermediate (a benchmark crude) “has increased due to the paper trade.” “We have to see May 21, when the June contract expires,” he said. “Just like April 21, when the May contract expired and buyers are unable to receive delivery due to full inventory, we may see another dip, but it may not drop below zero again.”
Mr. Ong also noted that most countries in the world are still blocked, and that demand for jet fuel “is still on hold.”
The last time more than one grade of gasoline was selling below S $ 2 here was in 2015, before the gasoline tax was increased.
THE NARROW TIMES
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