UAE petrol prices drop to their lowest in five years

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: UAE petrol prices drop to their lowest in five years Motorists can look forward to cheaper petrol prices from Friday after the Ministry of Energy set the cost at the pumps for January. The cost of a litre of Special 95, Super 98 and diesel is now at its lowest since 2011. Matar Hamed Al Neyadi, Undersecretary at the Minister of Energy, tweeted the fuel prices for January yesterday. Government subsidies have been dropped and a new policy linked to global prices was brought in in August, with the set monthly cost announced on the 28th of each month. Special 95 has been priced at Dhs1.58 a litre – down from Dhs1.68 in December and Dhs1.70 in November. Super 98 has been priced at Dhs1.69 – down from Dhs1.79 in December and Dhs1.81 in November. Diesel has been priced at Dhs1.61 – down from Dhs1.83 in December. Diesel stood at Dhs2.90 before deregulation. Motorists saw an initial rise of around a quarter in August, when prices were deregulated, before the global price began to freefall further, to its current $37 a barrel. Robin Mills, head of consulting at Manaar Energy in Dubai, predicted it is unlikely that prices would fall much lower. He said: “The world oil price is very low at present and that’s been reflected at the pumps, since subsidies have ended. “Whether it will go any lower is hard to say, but I don’t expect it to fall much further. The current price will help to steady inflation here though.” He said airline passengers should see a benefit. “If you compare ticket prices over a six-month period you should see the difference, because for the airline industry the cost of fuel is everything.” On 7DAYS’ Facebook page, readers said they had not seen the drop reflected in the price of goods. Tariq Anwer wrote: “Good news but why [is it] not being reflected in, say grocery, restaurant bills?” But Mills added: “I doubt people will see the difference in everyday goods, because the cost of fuel for companies here is very low, only one or two per cent of their budget.” news@7days.ae Read the original story at: UAE petrol prices drop to their lowest in five years