Okay, you tell me what the local petrol price should be now, bearing in mind that they have removed subsidies completely now.

Of course, we also need to factor in the need to conserve scarce fossil fuels.

I think RM1.80 without any subsidy would be a more acceptable price now, taking into account the need to bring down food prices and stimulate the local economy while trying to encourage fossil fuel oil conservation and prevent wastage at the same time.

Thanks to Ong Eu Soon for compiling this chart:


Petrol price Global crude

RM/litre US$/barrel
01/10/00 1.20 35
20/10/01 1.30 20
01/05/02 1.32 26
31/10/02 1.33 28
01/03/03 1.35 31
01/05/04 1.37 38
01/10/04 1.42 47
05/05/05 1.52 48
30/07/05 1.62 57
26/02/06 1.92 63
05/06/08 2.70 120
17/11/08 2.00 55

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Latest: Pump prices will be reduced by 10-20 sen from Wednesday

Isn’t it about time local fuel prices are lowered in line with global prices? After all, we haven’t seen much improvement in our public transport with all those government subsidies we were supposed to have saved, have we?

With global prices now down to US$80-85/barrel, our policy planners should reduce prices to ease the effect on the lower income group. A 20-sen reduction would be reasonable for now, bearing in mind that global prices could fall to a more realistic range of US$60-80 in view of the likely slump in global demand.

It was a blunder to have raised the price so drastically in the first place, when all the signs were that the recent price uptrend was the result of excessive speculation.

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According to Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad, the Cabinet will review the petrol and diesel prices this Wednesday. It is set to discuss a proposal to reduce retail prices. This from Shahrir’s website in a posting titled ‘Price drop ahead of Raya?’:

JOHOR BAHRU 20 Sept. – Keputusan sama ada kerajaan akan menurun atau mengekalkan harga runcit petrol dan diesel bakal diketahui pada mesyuarat Kabinet Rabu ini.

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