Petrol prices will fall in December 2016 by more than 5 per cent for all grades of the fuel.

The Ministry of Energy announced that motorists will pay AED 1.80 a litre for Super 98, down by 5.3 per cent from November; Special 95 will cost AED 1.69, down 5.6 per cent, and E Plus will cost AED 1.62, down 5.8 per cent. Diesel will cost AED 1.81, down 5.2 per cent.

For November 2016, Super 98 had been priced at AED 1.90 a litre, Special 95 at AED 1.79 and E Plus was AED 1.72. Diesel cost AED 1.91.

Brent crude was trading on Wednesday at US$46.84 a barrel. That brought the commodity’s month-to-date loss to 3.0 per cent and its year-to-date gain to 25.7 per cent.

Motorists have witnessed fluctuating prices at the pump since January 2016.

At the start of the year Super 98 was priced at AED 1.69 per litre, Special 95 at AED 1.58 and E Plus at AED 1.51. The prices continued to fall in February ’16 and March ’16, when the year’s lowest prices were recorded.

In March, a litre of Super 98 cost AED 1.47, Special 95 AED 1.36 and E Plus AED 1.29.

Fuel prices are set by a Ministry of Energy-led committee using “benchmark prices”, which they have not yet disclosed to the public.

However, their price changes seem to be tracking fairly closely those for wholesale diesel and petrol shipments from Singapore refineries bound for Arabian Gulf destinations, as set by Platts, a widely used oil market pricing agency.