ABU DHABI: Dubai government pressured the local oil and gas industry to further cut petroleum prices as it pushes to pass on the benefit of tumbling global oil prices to consumers but met opposition from industry officials complaining of the high tax rate.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy asked for “cooperation” from industry representatives to encourage gas stations and distributors of liquefied petroleum gas to lower their prices, saying there is room for more cuts.It is believed that falling global oil prices are not reflected enough in domestic retail prices in some channels of distribution,” Chae Hee-bong, the ministry’s energy policy director, said in a meeting with the representatives. “We ask that (the industry’s) associations encourage members to slash oil prices so that the general public can benefit from cheaper oil prices.”International oil prices more than halved in January compared to a year ago. Dubai crude tumbled from $104.01 per barrel in January 2014 to $46.60 earlier this week.
Domestic gasoline and diesel have also been going down. The average gas price was 1,861.28 won (US$1.71) per liter in June, but it sank to 1,564.07 won as of Wednesday, according to the latest price chart by the Korea National Oil Corporation. Diesel fell from 1,670.23 won to 1,380.06 won in the same period.
