Pump prices fall by 5 cents a litre; lower-octane petrol prices dip below $3 a litre
SINGAPORE - Pump prices have fallen by five cents a litre since last week, with all brands of 92-octane fuel and one 95-octane dipping below $3 as of Monday (April 4).
This follows further easing of oil prices as sanctions against Russian supplies look increasingly unlikely.
According to pump price tracker Fuel Kaki, an initiative by the Consumers Association of Singapore, 92-octane is now $2.96 at Caltex and Esso, and $2.95 at SPC. This grade, usable by the majority of cars here, is not offered by Shell and Sinopec.
The popular 95-octane is $2.99 at SPC, $3 at Caltex, Esso and Sinopec, and $3.02 at Shell.
Meanwhile, 98-octane, which is necessary for some cars with direct injection engines, is $3.47 at Esso, Sinopec and SPC, and $3.51 at Shell. The so-called premium 98-grade is $3.47 at Sinopec, $3.66 at Caltex and $3.73 at Shell.
Diesel is $2.72 at Sinopec, $2.73 at Caltex, Esso and SPC, and $2.81 at Shell.
Prices differ vastly after discounts, which are mostly tied to credit cards. For 92-octane fuel, Caltex offers the lowest price of $2.40 a litre with OCBC Voyage card.
For 95-octane, the best offer of $2.35 is at Sinopec (OCBC cards), although the operator has only three locations. Among brands with sizeable networks, Caltex has the lowest price of $2.43 (OCBC Voyage card).
For 98-octane, the best offer of $2.73 is at Sinopec (OCBC cards), followed by $2.85 at Esso (DBS Esso card).
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The benchmark Brent crude has dipped to around US$104 (S$141) a barrel in early trade on Monday, down from US$107 a barrel last week.
But market watchers still expect oil to remain firm, with average prices significantly higher than last year.
In a market update on Monday morning, Fitch Solutions Country Risk and Industry Research said it has revised its forecast for Brent, which it expects to average US$100 a barrel this year and US$90 a barrel next year- up from US$82 and US$83 previously.
"While sanctions have largely shied away from the oil and gas trade, as we had anticipated, export disruptions look to be more substantial and more sustained than we had previously forecast, not least due to 'self-sanctioning' by major Western oil companies, which are under pressure to disengage from Moscow," the research firm said.
"As a result, we decreased our Russian oil production forecast this month, impacting global supply... This has largely erased the global surplus we had expected to emerge this year, signalling a tighter market balance and more persistent upward price pressures."
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