ENOC Continues To Slash Diesel Price As Oil Drops

Dubai-based Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) has further reduced domestic diesel price as international crude prices have dropped.

The fuel retailer, owned by the government of Dubai, announced that it has slashed the price of diesel by an additional 20 fils to Dhs3.10 per litre as of December 30, 2014.

The revised price is applicable across all service stations of ENOC and Eppco, the company said in a statement.

“The international prices of both oil and diesel have continued on a downtrend, which is reflected in our revised price of diesel,” said Talib Al Saleh, acting managing director of ENOC Retail.

This is the second price cut by ENOC in a week as oil prices continued its free fall in the international market, hitting a five and a half year low at $57 per barrel on Tuesday morning.

Citing a similar fall in prices, ENOC slashed retail charges for diesel by 20 fils to Dhs3.30 last week.

Unlike petrol prices, which are capped in the UAE, diesel prices vary in accordance with the brent crude price.

Falling crude prices are beneficial to the Dubai-based fuel retailer ENOC, which buys fuel at the market price and sells it at a subsided rate decided by the government.

In 2011, the fuel retailer faced a loss of Dhs2.7 billion as it was forced to sell petrol at a subsidised rate even as international oil prices soared.

Since then, ENOC has said that it was not viable to sell petrol at such rates, leading it to shut down about 82 service stations in Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah.