UAE petrol prices up by 27 fils per litre for February; here's why

The UAE on Tuesday increased retail fuel prices by over 10 per cent for February 2023 following two consecutive months of reduction in rates.

Super 98 price has been increased by Dh0.27 or 9.7 per cent to Dh3.05 per litre; Special 95 hiked by Dh0.26 or 9.7 per cent to Dh2.93; and E-Plus price has been raised by Dh0.27 or 10.4 per cent to Dh2.86 a litre.

When compared to February 2022 rates, Super 98, Special 95 and E-Plus prices are up by Dh0.11 per litre for all three variants.

Since UAE announced to deregulate prices in August 2015, the UAE’s Fuel Price Committee has been revising the local retail fuel rates at the end of every month. In the previous months, the rates were mostly announced on the 11th hour of the last day of the month. But rates were announced earlier this time, giving motorists a few hours to fill their cars’ tanks and save on petrol costs.

The UAE aligned local retail fuel prices with global rates in 2015 in order to support the fuel retailers in the country to cover their losses. Local fuel prices are substantially cheaper when compared to global rates. According to globalpetrolprices.com, the global average price of petrol is around Dh4.79 per litre as compared to Dh2.93 a litre in the emirates.

Oil prices peaked in the UAE in July 2022 when all three variants were priced at above Dh4 per litre due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Prices dropped faster in the fourth quarter of last year after the world economy feared to be slipping into recession. On Tuesday. Brent crude futures were trading at $83.89 per barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were selling at $76.98 a barrel on Tuesday afternoon.

In addition to reopening of the Chinese economy after two years of Covid-induced restrictions, the International Monetary Fund also hiked the global economic growth forecast by 0.2 per cent to 2.9 per cent which are expected to push up global oil prices in the coming weeks.

“The latest news on the macro front is not bad, at all. The Chinese reopening is now well reflected through the first set of economic data. Released today, both the manufacturing and services PMI jumped into the expansion zone. And the cherry on top, the IMF raised its growth forecast for this year, citing the resilience of US spending and the Chinese reopening,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst, Swissquote Bank.

• UAE set to announce retail fuel prices for February