Fuel prices expected to be lower for January

Abu Dhabi: Fuel prices are expected to be lower in January compared to December as the fuel price committee gets ready to meet on Monday, a tweet by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Energy Dr Matar Al Neyadi said. He did not elaborate much on this.

Fuel price committee headed by Dr Neyadi will meet on Monday to determine the prices for January. Other member of the committee include Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance and heads of Adnoc Distribution and Enoc.

“The fuel price committee will meet tomorrow. It is expected that January prices will be lower than December for both diesel and gasoline,” he tweeted.

The per litre prices for December are Super 98 — Dh1.79; Special 95 — Dh1.68; E Plus-91 — Dh1.61. And diesel price has been fixed at Dh1.83 per litre.

Weak demand

Brent, the global benchmark has been dropping for the past few months as global glut persists due to over production and weak demand. From $115 (Dh422) per barrel in June last year, oil prices plunged to less than $40 in recent times with brent trading at $37.89 per barrel when the markets closed.

In a landmark decision in July, the Ministry of Energy deregulated fuel prices and new pricing policy linked to global prices adopted. Following the decision, diesel prices reduced by 24 per cent and petrol price has increased by 29 per cent. However, the trend did not continue and fuel prices fell in the subsequent months as global oil prices plunged.