UAE petrol prices to drop in September

Drivers will pay less at the pumps next month after the fuel price committee confirmed prices

Petrol prices have been announced for June in the UAE. Victor Besa / The National

Motorists in the UAE will pay less at the pumps in September.

The fuel price committee has announced a decrease of more than 4 per cent for drivers using Special 95.

Here is the breakdown of the prices per litre:

• Super 98: Dh2.28 - down from Dh2.37 in August (fall of 3.8 per cent)

• Special 95: Dh2.16 - down from Dh2.26 in August (fall of 4.6 per cent)

• Diesel: Dh2.38 - down from Dh2.42 in August (fall of 1.7 per cent)

Fuel prices in the UAE were liberalised in August 2015 to adjust as per the market.

Motorists started 2019 with a substantial drop in prices when the cost of Special 95 fell below Dh2 a litre for the first time in more than a year.

However, prices continued to rise in the ensuing months until a 10 per cent fall was recorded in July compared to June. Prices then rose 3 per cent in August.

Oil markets have been volatile amid a US trade war with China, and supply concerns which have come about due to tensions in the Middle East.

West Texas Intermediate for October delivery added 38 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $56.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday morning in London after falling 35 cents earlier. Brent for the same month fell 3 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $60.46 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange.

Oil markets are expected to be broadly balanced in the second half of 2019, according to a recent report from Oxford Economics.

“The oil market has been through a period of oversupply but from a fundamental perspective the worst appears to be over for now,” the report said.

“On the supply side, the Opec+ group is working hard to underpin prices and compliance with promised cutbacks has been surprisingly high, reaching 134 per cent in July."

The forecast for Brent crude in 2019 has been lowered to $63 per barrel from $66 per barrel, the report said.