SINGAPORE – After a two-week lull without changes, Shell and Caltex last Friday increased their fuel pump prices by four cents a litre for diesel and five cents for petrol.

The other three pump operators here – Esso, Sinopec and SPC – have not followed them. The posted prices of the three have remained unchanged since Oct 6.

According to Fuel Kaki, a pump price tracker set up by the Consumers Association of Singapore, diesel now ranges from $2.71 a litre at SPC to $2.78 at Shell and Caltex.

The 92-octane petrol is between $2.84 (SPC) and $2.90 (Caltex). Shell and Sinopec do not offer this grade. The popular 95-octane fuel ranges from $2.88 (SPC) to $2.95 (Shell, Caltex).

For the regular 98-octane fuel, the highest price is $3.44 (Shell) and the lowest is $3.36 (SPC).

The so-called premium 98-octane is between $3.50 (Sinopec) and $3.66 (Shell).

Crude oil prices inched upwards after the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on Oct 7, with Brent crude breaching US$92 a barrel on Oct 19. But the benchmark commodity has since eased to around US$88 a barrel on the back of weak European economic data.

Mr John Kilduff, a partner at New York-based investment advisory firm Again Capital, was quoted by Reuters as saying: “As much as this market has been worried about the war in the Middle East and efforts from Saudi Arabia to tighten supply, demand has been a major headwind for a while now.”

After discounts, the 95-octane petrol is cheapest at Sinopec ($2.27), although the Chinese operator has only three stations and its discounts are tied to only two OCBC cards.

The fuel is $2.45 at SPC after discount, mostly $2.48 at Caltex, between $2.38 and $2.49 at Esso, and mostly $2.54 at Shell.

For the regular 98-octane fuel, the lowest price of $2.65 is offered by Sinopec, while the highest is $2.96 from Shell.

The 92-octane grade is $2.41 at SPC, between $2.34 and $2.45 at Esso, and mostly $2.44 at Caltex.