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Egypt Hikes Domestic Fuel Prices

Cars are seen at a petrol station in downtown Cairo, Egypt June 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Cars are seen at a petrol station in downtown Cairo, Egypt June 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
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Egypt Hikes Domestic Fuel Prices

Cars are seen at a petrol station in downtown Cairo, Egypt June 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Cars are seen at a petrol station in downtown Cairo, Egypt June 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Egypt introduced its latest round of fuel subsidy cuts on Friday, raising domestic prices by between 16 percent and 30 percent.

The price of widely used 92 octane grade petrol rose by 18.5 percent to 8 pounds ($0.4825) a liter, while lower quality 80 octane rose by 22.7 percent to 6.75 pounds ($0.4071) a liter, the petroleum ministry said in a statement.

Higher grade 95 octane fuel rose by 16.1 percent to 9 Egyptian pounds ($0.5428) a liter, and diesel rose by 22.7 percent to 6.75 pounds per liter. The price of cooking gas cylinders rose by 30 percent to 65 pounds for domestic use and 130 pounds for commercial use.

Scaling back fuel subsidies was a key plank of a three-year $12 billion economic reform package signed with the IMF in November 2016. Energy subsidies had eaten up as much as 20 percent of the government's budget in recent years.

The reforms also included a sharp devaluation of the Egyptian pound and led to rapid inflation that later cooled.

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Oil Prices Nudge Higher Ahead of OPEC+ Meeting

FILE PHOTO: A man is seen at an exit of the refinery plants of Chambroad Petrochemicals in Binzhou, Shandong province, China October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A man is seen at an exit of the refinery plants of Chambroad Petrochemicals in Binzhou, Shandong province, China October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Oil Prices Nudge Higher Ahead of OPEC+ Meeting

FILE PHOTO: A man is seen at an exit of the refinery plants of Chambroad Petrochemicals in Binzhou, Shandong province, China October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A man is seen at an exit of the refinery plants of Chambroad Petrochemicals in Binzhou, Shandong province, China October 24, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Oil prices climbed nearly 1% on Tuesday, as traders awaited the outcome of an OPEC+ meeting later this week.
Brent crude futures rose 66 cents, or 0.92%, to $72.49 a barrel by 0909 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 63 cents, or 0.93%, to $68.73, Reuters reported.
OPEC+ is likely to extend its latest round of output cuts until the end of the first quarter at its Dec. 5 meeting, according to sources.
"Given a rise in compliance with production cuts from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Iraq, the lower Brent price level, and indications in press reports, we assume an extension of OPEC+ production cuts till April," Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.
OPEC+, which accounts for about half of the world's oil production, has been looking to gradually unwind production cuts through 2025.
However, the prospect of an oil market surplus has exerted downward pressure on prices, with Brent trading nearly 6% below its average for December 2023.
"I think there's no other option but to defer it," Priyanka Sachdeva, a senior market analyst at Phillip Nova said, adding that mounting pressure from participant-nations to increase production could cap any extension at a couple of months.
The global oil demand outlook remains weak, with China's crude imports likely to peak as early as next year, as demand for transport fuel begins to decrease, researchers and analysts said.
Concerns that the US Federal Reserve may not cut rates at its December meeting have also capped oil prices.
In the Middle East, holes continued to appear in a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, with several people killed in strikes on southern Lebanese towns shortly after Hezbollah fired missiles on an Israeli military position in the disputed Shebaa Farms area on Monday.