UAE fuel prices: How much less are you paying this September than earlier this year?

Dubai: UAE motorists filling up in September will still spend less on petrol than they did at the peak of fuel prices earlier this year, with the difference adding up for drivers who cover longer distances or refill several times a month.

The new September rates put Super 98 at Dh3.80 per litre, Special 95 at Dh3.69 and E-Plus 91 at Dh3.61. Diesel is Dh4.30.

Rather than looking only at the change from August, another useful measure for household budgets is how today's prices compare with the highest rates motorists faced during 2026.

Petrol peaked in June, when Super 98 reached Dh3.95, Special 95 Dh3.83 and E-Plus Dh3.76. That leaves all three September petrol grades roughly 4% below their 2026 highs.

For a motorist using Special 95, 60 litres costs Dh221.40 in September. The same 60 litres would have cost Dh229.80 at June's peak, leaving a difference of Dh8.40 on a single fill.

Super 98 users pay Dh228 for 60 litres in September, against Dh237 in June, saving Dh9 compared with the peak. For E-Plus, 60 litres costs Dh216.60, against Dh225.60 in June — again a Dh9 difference.

The benefit becomes larger for motorists driving SUVs and other vehicles with bigger tanks. An 80-litre fill of Special 95 costs Dh295.20 in September, Dh11.20 below what the same quantity cost in June. For Super 98 and E-Plus, the difference on 80 litres is Dh12 per fill.

Tank size alone does not determine how much a motorist spends on fuel. The more useful calculation for regular commuters is total monthly consumption.

Consider a driver using 240 litres of Special 95 each month, equivalent to four 60-litre fills. At September's Dh3.69 rate, that comes to Dh885.60 a month. At June's Dh3.83, the same amount of fuel would have cost Dh919.20.

That leaves the driver's monthly bill Dh33.60 below the June peak. A Super 98 motorist consuming 240 litres would spend Dh912 in September, against Dh948 at the peak — a difference of Dh36 a month.

Over three months at the same consumption level, that difference would amount to Dh100.80 for Special 95 and Dh108 for Super 98, compared with continuously paying June's peak rates.

These figures are consumption examples rather than estimates of what a typical UAE motorist drives each month.

The difference is substantially larger for diesel users. Diesel reached Dh4.69 per litre in April and May, compared with Dh4.30 in September. The current rate is therefore 39 fils, or about 8.3%, below its 2026 peak.

Buying 60 litres costs Dh258 in September, compared with Dh281.40 at the peak — a difference of Dh23.40. At 80 litres, the difference rises to Dh31.20.

And for a driver or business consuming 240 litres in a month, September's rate produces a bill of Dh1,032, compared with Dh1,125.60 at the peak — a difference of Dh93.60.

That comparison can become more significant for businesses operating multiple diesel vehicles, although actual savings will depend entirely on fleet size, mileage and fuel consumption.

There is also a simple way UAE motorists can calculate the effect of future fuel-price movements themselves.

Every 1-fil-per-litre difference changes the price of a 60-litre purchase by 60 fils. A 10-fils difference changes it by Dh6, while 20 fils translates into Dh12.

For an 80-litre purchase, every 10 fils per litre means Dh8. The monthly effect depends on consumption. Someone buying 240 litres a month gains or loses Dh24 for every 10-fils movement in the pump price.

That provides motorists with a straightforward way of translating future monthly fuel-price announcements into their own budgets without relying on the size of the percentage change alone.

Fuel prices have moved through unusually wide ranges this year as international energy markets responded to the Middle East conflict and disruption to regional oil supplies.

For motorists, comparing September with the year's peak therefore provides a different perspective from simply comparing one month with the next.

At current rates, 60 litres of petrol costs around Dh8.40-Dh9 less than it did at the June high, while 60 litres of diesel costs Dh23.40 less than at its April-May peak.

For households with more than one car or motorists covering substantial distances each month, those per-fill differences accumulate — making total litres consumed just as important as the headline price displayed at the pump.