UAE petrol and diesel prices to fall in September

Motorists in the Emirates will pay less at the pump next month

Adnoc petrol station in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

Fuel prices in the Emirates will fall in September, reflecting trends in the global oil market, it has been announced.

The prices for petrol and diesel will drop, state news agency Wam reported on Saturday, quoting the UAE fuel price committee.

How much will fuel cost in September?

The breakdown of fuel prices for a litre for September is as follows:

• Super 98: Dh2.90 from Dh3.05 in August (down by 4.9 per cent)

• Special 95: Dh2.78 from Dh2.93 in August (down by 5.1 per cent)

• Diesel: Dh2.78 from Dh2.95 in August (down by 5.8 per cent)

• E-plus 91: Dh2.71 from Dh2.86 in August (down by 5.2 per cent)

The UAE liberalised fuel prices in 2015 to allow them to move in line with the market.

In 2020, prices were frozen by the Fuel Price Committee after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The controls were removed in March 2021 to reflect the movement of the market once again.

Oil recorded a weekly gain on supply disruption concerns in Libya and positive economic data from the US, the world’s largest economy.

Brent, the benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, fell 1.43 per cent to $78.80 a barrel on Friday, while West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, settled down 3.11 per cent to $73.55 a barrel.

Markets were weighed down as traders considered a report that Opec+ is expected to proceed with a planned output hike from October amid the Libyan outages and pledged cuts by some members to compensate for overproduction to counter the impact of sluggish demand, according to Reuters, citing six sources from the producer group.

More than half of Libya's oil production, or about 700,000 barrels per day, was offline on Thursday and exports were halted at several ports following a standoff between rival political factions supporting oil prices, according to Reuters.

The country’s oil production reached 1.17 million bpd in July, data from Opec’s latest monthly oil market report shows.

Escalation in tensions between Israel and Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah, as well as positive economic data from the US that could boost demand in the country, are also supporting oil prices.

The US economy grew faster than initially thought in the second quarter amid strong consumer spending.

The country recorded gross domestic product growth of 3 per cent annually in the last quarter, up from an initial estimate of 2.8 per cent reported in July, the latest data from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis shows.

Assurances from Iraq and Kazakhstan, which are part of the Opec+ group, that they would comply with oil production guidelines to stabilise markets is also supporting prices. The development came following the visit of Opec secretary general Haitham Al Ghais to the two countries this week.