Dubai set to cut diesel price by Dh0.60 per gallon

Abu Dhabi: Dubai oil retailers have decided to cut diesel prices by Dh0.60 per gallon effective on Sunday to reflect the current downturn in international oil prices at the local pumps, an oil company executive and a pump attendant in Dubai told Gulf News .

The oil retailing companies Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc), Emirates Petroleum Products Company (Eppco) and Emarat will lower the selling price of diesel to Dh13.35 per gallon from Dh13.95 per gallon, said an executive at Eppco.

A pump attendant at an Eppco pump confirmed that they had received communication from their company about the next round of cuts in diesel prices.

The price cut, when effective, will mark the retailers' 11th straight cut in diesel prices since July 28.

Diesel was selling at Dh19.25 a gallon, an all-time high on that date, and ever since its price in Dubai has been going down steadily due to the declining crude and oil product prices on the international market.

At the time of the next price cut, the difference between Dubai and Abu Dhabi diesel prices will have narrowed down to 55.23 per cent. Abu Dhabi has kept the price of diesel steady at Dh8.60 per gallon.

The oil product's price in Abu Dhabi didn't go up even when crude prices on the international market touched an all-time high of $147.27 last July.

The three Dubai oil retailers buy diesel at international prices and then adjust the local prices, based on the landed cost of the oil product. Diesel is widely used in the UAE as a transportation fuel with trucks that carry goods, its main users.

Any increase in the price of the fuel means greater inflationary pressures for the consumer as the fuel price rises are invariably passed on across the supply chain.

Global oil prices have fallen sharply mainly due to declining consumption of oil products in the world's developed markets. The decline was triggered by their slowing economic

growth rates and fears of a long global recession.

In early trade on Thursday, the crude oil futures for December delivery in the US, the world's largest oil importer, were trading just a shade above $52 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.