Several fuel stations across the Kingdom have unilaterally increased the price of petrol and diesel under the pretext of an increase in transportation costs. An informed source said the earlier decision for the reduction of diesel prices by 32 percent and petrol by 30 percent has not been implemented in all the regions of the Kingdom. The source stressed that the branches of the Ministry of Commerce are well aware of the overcharging by gas stations but turn a blind eye to the violation of the price code. The source said the officials maintain that till now they have not received any Saudi Aramco guidelines regarding the reduction in oil prices. Although the official price of Octane 91 is 45 halalas per liter, it is sold at 48 halalas and Octane 95 is sold at 78 halalas per liter instead of 75 halalas. He said this is happening at a time when refineries sell petrol 91 at 35 halalas and petrol 95 at 65 halalas. This shows that fuel stations are selling them at a higher rate and generating a profit of 13 halalas per liter. The owners of these gas stations say they will reduce the prices when transportation costs come down. “We are keen to reduce the prices, but we will incur huge losses due to the high transportation costs,” the owner of a gas station on the outskirts of Madina said. Muhammad Matrouk, member of the Madina Chamber of Commerce, said owners of gas stations face great difficulty because some of them are located a great distance from the refineries. This leaves them with no option but to increase the prices slightly in order to compensate for the high transportation costs. He said some owners get their petrol quota from the Strategic Storage in Madina but often are referred to Yanbu or Rabegh. – Okaz/SG Matrouk has expressed surprise that owners of gas stations calculate the transportation cost at SR1,500 to SR2,500 per tanker although several gas stations themselves own tankers which they rent to some small gas stations. A source at the Strategic Storage said they have nothing to do with the product and its price, stressing that the Strategic Storage has left the matter to Saudi Aramco. Khalid Gumgumji, Director of the Ministry of Commerce branch in Madina, said the branch had sent two letters to Saudi Aramco demanding directives to the owners of gas stations in Madina to abide by the price code. “We have been waiting for two months to receive a reply from Saudi Aramco.”
