Oil problems in an outpost of Opec-land? lol
Motorists in the UAE may soon find themselves lining up to buy petrol. Purchasing refined petrol at Dh 6.75 per gallon but allowed by the authorities to sell at only Dh 4.75 per gallon, the country's gasoline retailers incur a substantial loss estimated at about Dh 4.1 million daily, especially now that world crude prices have reached more than US$ 50 per barrel. EPCCO/ENOC, with more than 160 service stations in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, loses upwards of Dh 1.4 million a day.
An industry spokesman said that a business incurring losses of that magnitude is clearly not sustainable in the long term, unless the companies have either access to subsidised products or retail prices are increased by as much as Dh 2 per gallon. The source said that while petrol retail pump price is set by the Federal Government, retailers like EPPCO that don't have access to crude oil of their own need to buy product at high international market prices. "Over the last 5 years, EPPCO lost a total of about Dh 450 million because of the high product acquisition cost," said an EPPCO source. |