The Malaysian Insider
31 December 2014

The retail prices for fuel in the country will be reduced between 30 sen and 35 sen from tomorrow following the downtrend in global crude oil prices, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan today.

He tweeted that RON95 petrol will be priced at RM1.91 a litre, a reduction of 35 sen, RON97 at RM2.11 a litre (35 sen drop) and diesel at RM1.93 a litre (30 sen drop).

The prices were close to the calculations made by Pakatan Rakyat lawmaker Rafizi Ramli today when he said RON 95 petrol should be priced at RM1.91 per litre, while diesel should be set at RM1.94 a litre.

He tweeted: “Minyak turun lagi. Bila pula peniaga nak turunkan harga barang? Rakyat menunggu” (The price of oil has gone down again, when will retailers reduce the price of goods? The people are waiting.)

Bernama reported that the same announcement was also made by Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek.

“The prices of petrol and diesel are based on the average cost price of the products for the whole of December 2014 and exchange rates.”

He said the government would continuously monitor the market development of the cost of the products and exchange rates in fixing the retail prices of petrol and diesel in the coming months.

“All oil companies and petrol station operators must abide by the new pricing and stern action will be taken against those who violate the new pricing rules,” he added.

On Monday, the global benchmark Brent crude settled at US$57.88 per barrel while the US crude settled at US$53.61 per barrel. Prices have fallen to their lowest level since May 2009.

Foreign analysts have said that oil prices this year were on track for the biggest decline since 2008 and the second biggest annual fall since futures started trading in the 1980s.

In November, Putrajaya announced that it would remove all fuel subsidies effective December 1 and use a managed float method to determine the retail price of fuel.

Through the managed float method, the average change in the product cost will determine pricing on a monthly basis.

However, with oil prices slumping worldwide and showing no signs of recovery, Malaysians should be able to look forward to cheaper oil prices as they usher in 2015. – December 31, 2014.