Pump prices up as much as 11 cents in last 2 weeks

Pump prices have risen by as much as 11 cents a litre in the latest adjustment, driven by higher crude oil and product costs.

According to petrol and diesel price tracker Fuel Kaki, the sharpest increases were for diesel, with posted rates going up by between eight and 11 cents since Jan 31.

Diesel at Caltex and Shell is now $2.36 a litre before discount, and $2.31 at Esso, Sinopec and SPC.

Petrol prices have gone up by between five and 10 cents. The only exception is Sinopec's so-called premium grade, which has been adjusted downwards by six cents to $3.23 a litre.

Caltex, Esso and SPC - the only players offering 92-octane fuel - are posting a uniform $2.72 a litre for the cheapest grade of petrol which is usable by most cars here. This translates to a five-cent increase at Caltex, a seven-cent rise for Esso, and a 10-cent spike for SPC.

The popular 95-octane is up too, with Caltex and Shell posting a price of $2.78 a litre (up by six cents), Esso and Sinopec advertising $2.76 (up seven cents), and SPC retailing at $2.75 (up 10 cents).

The 98-octane petrol, unnecessary for most cars here, is $3.23 a litre at Esso (up seven cents), Sinopec (up seven cents) and SPC (up 10 cents), and $3.27 at Shell (up six cents).

The so-called premium 98-grade is going for $3.44 at Caltex (up nine cents), $3.49 at Shell (up six cents), and $3.23 a litre at Sinopec (down by six cents).

Going by brands, SPC has posted the biggest increases, with prices for petrol rising by 10 cents and diesel by 11 cents.

But it is still among the cheapest after discount. Its diesel is $1.85 a litre after credit card discounts - the lowest among retailers with a sizeable network.

Sinopec offers diesel at $1.80 a litre after discount.

The priciest diesel is at Shell, which is selling it at $2.12 a litre with the UOB One card and $2.03 with other cards.

For the best-selling 95-grade petrol, Sinopec is cheapest at $2.16 a litre, followed by Caltex ($2.25 with the OCBC Voyage card) and Esso ($2.26 with the DBS Esso card).

Surprisingly, SPC's across-the-board discounted price of $2.34 a litre for 95-octane fuel is higher than several card-discounted rates at Caltex and Esso.

For 92-octane, Caltex has the cheapest offer of $2.20 (OCBC Voyage card), followed by Esso's $2.23 (DBS Esso card). SPC's $2.31 a litre across the board is the priciest among the three brands.

Brent crude oil last traded at US$91.41 on Nasdaq, its highest in at least a year. RBOB gasoline, a publicly traded commodity and a proxy for wholesale petrol price, last closed at US$2.76 per gallon, nearly 70 per cent higher than a year ago.

In the same time frame, pump prices here have climbed by 28 per cent for diesel, and between 25 and 27 per cent for petrol.