UAE petrol and diesel prices to fall in June

Motorists in the Emirates will pay less at the petrol pump next month

Petrol prices effective from June in the UAE have been announced. Victor Besa / The National

The prices of petrol and diesel in the UAE will fall next month, it has been announced.

Prices increased in May after they were cut in April to reflect the trend in the oil market.

UAE petrol prices for June 2023

The breakdown in price per litre for June is as follows:

• Super 98: Dh2.95 – from Dh3.16 in May (down 6.6 per cent)
• Special 95: Dh2.84 – from Dh3.05 in May (down nearly 7 per cent)
• Diesel: Dh2.68 – from Dh2.91 in May (down nearly 8 per cent)
• E-plus 91: Dh2.76 – from Dh2.97 in May (down 7.1 per cent)

The UAE liberalised petrol prices in 2015 to allow rates to move in line with the market.

In 2020, they were frozen by the UAE's Fuel Price Committee after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The controls were removed in March 2021 to reflect the movement of the market once again.

Brent crude, the benchmark for two thirds of the world’s oil, is down nearly 15 per cent since the beginning of the year as a result of concerns over fuel demand.

On April 2, Opec+ producers announced voluntary output cuts of 1.16 million barrels per day to ensure oil market stability. Brent, which crossed $85 a barrel after the group’s decision, is currently trading at about $73 a barrel.

The 23-member Opec+ alliance is scheduled to meet in Vienna on Sunday to discuss the group’s production policy.

This month, the International Energy Agency raised its 2023 global oil demand estimates again and said the current pessimism in the market was in “stark contrast” to the agency’s expectations of a tighter market in the second half of the year.

The agency now expects global crude demand to grow by 2.2 million bpd in 2023, an increase of 200,000 bpd from its April forecast.

The agency, which expects crude demand to exceed supply by two million bpd in the second half of this year, said demand recovery in China, the world’s largest crude importer, has beaten estimates, reaching a record 16 million bpd in March.

China, which reopened its economy earlier this year, will account for about 60 per cent of global demand growth in 2023, the agency said.

In its latest oil market report, Opec stuck to its 2023 growth projection for oil demand but slightly lowered its forecast for regions other than China.

The crude producers' group expects world oil demand to hit 101.9 million bpd this year.