Singapore Petrol Price Highest In 9 Months

Petrol prices in Singapore were raised by two cents per litre in the last 24 hours, in the face of soaring spot cargo prices due to tight supplies, the companies said yesterday.

It was the first price rise in nine months.

The more commonly used 98-octane unleaded petrol was raised to Singapore $1.186 per litre from S$1.166 per litre at the pump.

"Due to higher operating costs, our pump prices for motor gasoline have been revised," Shell Singapore, the city-state's largest retailer, said in a statement in reply to a Reuters query.

The last time petrol prices were raised was in May 1996.

 

The Singapore retail petrol market is dominated by Shell, British Petroleum, Exxon Corp, Mobil Corp, Singapore Petroleum Co and Caltex, a Chevron

Corp and Texaco Corp joint-venture.

Gasoline prices in the Singapore international spot cargo market have risen by almost $2.00 per barrel within the past month due to a shortage of supplies after refiners in Singapore reduced output because of mounting refining losses. The refiners' losses were primarily due to around a 25-per cent drop in diesel and fuel oil prices since early December.

On Wednesday, benchmark 95-octane unleaded gasoline traded at $27.20 per barrel free-on-board Singapore compared to the mid-January traded level of $25.50 per barrel.

In the last year gasoline cargo prices have been at their highest for three years.

The gasoline market is expected to remain firm heading into the second quarter as several crude units in the region are scheduled to shutdown for maintenance.

Apart from the supply squeeze, demand is entering its peak period as the summer driving season starts. Oil companies usually begin stocking up for the summer from as early as April.