Shell, Caltex raise pump prices as oil creeps up
Just days after Caltex retracted its pump price increases, Shell raised its diesel rate by five cents a liter and its petrol prices by three cents.
According to Fuel Kaki, a pump price tracker set up by the Consumers Association of Singapore, Shell made its adjustment on Thursday afternoon.
On Friday morning, Caltex followed suit by matching Shell’s increases.
With the changes, fuels dispensed by Shell and Caltex are now the costliest in town, with the posted price for diesel at $2.79 a liter and 95-octane petrol at $2.79.
Shell does not offer 92-octane, but Caltex’s price for this grade is $2.74, compared with $2.71 at Esso and SPC, two others that offer this grade.
Meanwhile, Shell’s 98-octane is priced at $3.28 and its so-called premium 98-octane at $3.50. Caltex, which does not offer the regular 98-grade, has priced its premium 98-grade at $3.45.
The pump price adjustments came as oil prices reversed a month-long downward trend after major oil-producing countries agreed on Wednesday to cut production from November.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) decided to cut supply because of “uncertainty that surrounds the global economy and oil market outlooks”, and that it was acting to stabilise prices.
The United States has lashed out at Opec’s decision, calling it “shortsighted”.
The benchmark Brent crude closed at US$94.42 a barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange Europe on Thursday, up from US$89.32 last Thursday.
RBOB Gasoline, a proxy for wholesale petrol, closed at US$2.68 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday, up from US$2.58 last Thursday.
The other operators are likely to adjust their prices over the weekend.