Saturday 19 / October / 2024
Muscat: All fuel prices in Oman went up at midnight as the roll-out of the new M91 fuel left some petrol station owners confused.
The Ministry of Oil and Gas announced that the country’s new fuel—M91—will cost 173 baisas a litre. That’s four baisas more than the regular fuel it is replacing, which is M90.
The price of Super grade petrol was hiked to 183 baisas from 179 per litre and a litre of diesel now costs 187 baisas, up from 185 baisas.
M90 has now been replaced with M91, according to the ministry.
Orpic, Oman’s national refining and petrochemicals firm, confirmed on Sunday that MOGAS 91 or M91 fuel will be available from November 1.
According to Orpic, the fuel looks set to master the market in Oman, with up to 85 per cent of all cars on Oman’s roads being able to use it.
The top five selling vehicles in Oman can all run on M91, according to a website created by Orpic for drivers to select the best fuel for their cars.
Meanwhile, filling station owners said they have not made any additional arrangements to store M91 and some of them still have stocks of M9, which is to be stopped.
“We are a bit confused about the storage and supply of M91. We have not done anything new in order to store M91. We got a notice from the government stating the colour codes for the M91 and M95,” a fuel station owner said, adding that the colour coding of pumps has not changed.
“We are clueless on what to do with the existing M90 stock,” another fuel station owner added.
Some stations have tanks with M90 in them and are unsure if they should drain them or sell the fuel until the tanks are empty before restocking with the new fuel.
However, a senior official from Orpic said that as part of the replenishment plan by the local marketers to flush all filing stations, Orpic had started to supply the M91 fuel in October.
“As indicated by local marketers, it should only take two weeks for full replenishment targeting Nov 1. Orpic, from a wholesale and product perspective, has made M91 available since October,” the senior official from Orpic wrote in an email to the Times of Oman.
Driver Abdul Wahab Al Mamaary said: “I think this is not good because it is expensive, but M91 is very good petrol because it is a quality petrol. I don’t like that it is expensive because it is not good for me. I have to give more money for petrol. Before, it was very cheap. Now it is very expensive.”
Bijoy Thomas added: “I am using regular petrol, so I hope the new one gives me more mileage. It won’t affect my budget much because it’s just a four to five baiza increase and it is good quality petrol.”
Another driver filling up ahead of the hikes yesterday said: “We are being given money for petrol by the company. While the company can afford this, an individual cannot afford expensive petrol. Now people are buying cheaply as we cannot buy expensive petrol. Everyone is reducing the cost of living now because of reduced income.”
Khalifa Al Nasr added: “The new petrol will be more expensive than the normal one. We will need to know what fuel we are using for our cars. This will definitely affect my consumption and my budget.”
Another user, Mohammed Rizwan said: “In terms of cost, it will be helpful. It will affect my budget, because in my case, earlier when I paid five rials, I could fill up the tank. Now I am only able to fill a half tank with that money because I am using Super and not Regular. The price of existing fuel is expensive for our normal life.”
The fuel price rise in the Sultanate means filling one’s car tank would cost more than almost every other country in the Gulf, with the exception of the United Arab Emirates.
