Pump prices in Singapore on upward climb as worldwide energy demand steadily swells

If you somehow feel that the numbers on your petrol receipts have been growing ever so slightly - especially over the month of October - your eyes haven't been playing tricks on you. 

For the fourth time in three weeks, The Straits Times reports that pump prices in Singapore have increased yet again, this time led by Caltex, with Sinopec following behind.

For instance, prices for 95-Octane, the grade most popular among local drivers, have now risen to $2.69 and $2.63 per litre for Caltex and Sinopec respectively. With this development, the base price of 95-Octane at Caltex now matches that at Shell. 

There's a good reason why our trips to the petrol station have been increasingly thinning our wallets out. Back in early October, The Straits Times also noted that demand for energy is steadily swelling with the gradual reopening of economies worldwide. As energy producers race to ramp up supply, the prices of crude oil have also skyrocketed to levels not seen in years, spurred no less by the shortage of other sources such as natural gas and coal. 

To give you an idea of the price difference, on 14 October 2021, 95-octane petrol was retailing at $2.53 per litre at SPC, $2.55 per litre at Sinopec and Esso, and $2.61 per litre at Caltex and Shell.

As of 28 October 2021, this had increased to $2.58 per litre at SPC, $2.59 per litre at Sinopec, $2.63 per litre at Esso and $2.69 per litre at Caltex and Shell. (For those who can't be bothered with the math, that's an average increase of almost $0.07 per litre, or about $3 for the full 47L tank of a 2016 Honda Civic 1.6 i-VTEC. This is all before credit card discounts, of course.) Prices across the entire range of petrol grades, as well as diesel, have naturally also fallen prey to the spike.

With the steady march back into business-as-usual worldwide, it's likely that the trend won't abate anytime soon; there is even speculation that 95-octane petrol could hit $3 per litre by 2022. Perhaps then, there's no better time than now to start doing the math for which credit card combinations will give you the best rebates...