SINGAPORE - Petrol prices fluctuated on Friday, with at least three firms adjusting some of their prices from Thursday. As of 4pm on Friday, only prices at Esso remained unchanged.

Pump prices at the Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) went up by three cents across the board, its first change since Jan 15, but they still remained among the cheapest in all categories.

The most popular petrol grade, 95-octane, costs three cents less at Shell ($1.80 a litre) compared to Thursday; five cents less at Caltex ($1.78 a litre) and three cents more at SPC ($1.78 a litre).

Prices for the 98-octane grade now range from SPC's $1.91 to Caltex's $1.96. Shell's V-Power remained unchanged at $2.30 a litre.

The cheapest grade, 92-octane, remained unchanged at Esso, at $1.76 a litre. But it went down by five cents at Caltex to $1.74, and up by 3 cents at SPC to $1.74.

Diesel at Shell went down two cents to $1.30 a litre, up three cents at SPC to $1.28 a litre and down four cents to $1.28 a litre at Caltex.

All prices are before discounts.

Pump prices fell in January to levels harking back to 2009, when crude oil fell to below US$50 per barrel.

The benchmark Brent crude, however, surged to US$57.91 on Tuesday