16 March
Domestic oil prices have witnessed a downward trend for the past two months on the back of falling prices in the global markets and a slight gain in the Kyat over the previous week.
“Domestic oil prices have been on the decline since 10 January owing to a fall in global oil prices. At present, the prices have dropped by over K300 compared with the first week of January,” said traders.
On 8 January, oil prices were pegged at around K905 per liter for Octane 92, K995 for Octane 95, and K985 for diesel and premium diesel. On 15 March, the price of Octane 92 fell to K520-570, Octane 95 to K640-695, diesel to K590-640, and premium diesel to K600-650 per liter, according to the domestic oil market.
Meanwhile, in the global markets, oil prices dipped significantly to US$35.44 per barrel for Brent oil and $31.73 per barrel for WTI crude oil.
On 10 October, 2018, due to an increase in global crude oil prices and the weakening of the Kyat against the US dollar, oil prices had touched a high of K1,065 per liter for Octane 92, K1,115 for Octane 95, K1,085 for diesel, and K1,105 for premium diesel.
Ninety per cent of fuel oil in Myanmar is imported, while the remaining 10 per cent is produced locally.
Myanmar has imported about one million tons of diesel and petrol worth nearly $600 million over the past two months of the current fiscal year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Myanmar imports fuel oil primarily from Singapore, with monthly volumes touching 200,000 tons for gasoline and 400,000 tons for diesel. There are 2,000 fuel stations and 50 oil importer companies in Myanmar. —Ko Htet (Translated by EMM)
