All but one company raise pump prices

The adjustment makes Esso fuels the costliest here, except for its 98-octane grade petrol. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

SINGAPORE - Barely a week after pump prices were lowered, several oil companies led by American giant ExxonMobil have upped pump rates by around three cents a litre.

The popular 95-octane grade petrol at Esso, Shell, Caltex and Sinopec stations is now $2.02 a litre, while 92-octane is $1.98 at Caltex and Esso (Shell and Sinopec do not offer 92), and 98-octane is $2.39 at Esso and Sinopec, $2.41 at Shell and $2.50 at Caltex.

Diesel is now $1.70 a litre at Esso, Caltex and Sinopec but $1.72 at Shell.

ExxonMobil, the company behind the Esso brand, was first to raise prices on Monday (May 18). Caltex, Shell and Sinopec followed suit on Tuesday.

An ExxonMobil spokesman said the recent upward trend in crude and wholesale prices "started over three weeks ago, since end-April".

"Pump prices at our service station network are in line with prevailing market conditions," he noted.

All prices are before discounts.

Only SPC has not yet increased its prices. Its 95-octane is still at $1.99 a litre, while its 98 is $2.33.

SPC's 92-octane is the cheapest petrol now, at $1.95. And its diesel is $1.64 a litre.

The two so-called "ultra-grade" petrol - Shell's V-Power and Sinopec's Sino X Power - are $2.65 and $2.55 respectively.

The latest adjustment comes on the back of oil prices recovering as countries around the world lift lockdown measures.

Brent crude has gone from a low of around US$19.30 ($27.39) a barrel in late-April to US$35.30 on Monday.

Meanwhile, RBOB Gasoline, a publicly traded commodity and a proxy for wholesale petrol price, had doubled to around US$1 per gallon in the same period.

Despite the latest rise, fuel prices are still at their lowest this year.

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