Fuel consumption stable: Misr Petroleum

CAIRO – 9 July 2017: The quantities of fuel pumped to stations are stable as the consumption remained unchanged after price hikes, chairman of state-owned Misr Petroleum Mohamed Shabaan said Sunday.

Shabaan said that the gasoline supplies stand at 6 million liters of 80-octane, 2 million liters of 92-octane and 13 million liters of diesel.

“Consumption of gasoline 95-octane is very low, despite being close in price to 92-octane,” he said.

After the first wave of fuel price hikes following the flotation of the Egyptian pound in November 2016, consumption of gasoline 92-octane declined 10 percent, while using 80-octane hiked between 10-15 percent.

On June 29, new fuel prices were announced as the price of 80-octane gasoline soared from LE 1.60 ($0.08) to LE 3.65 ($0.20) per liter, while 92-octane increased from LE 3.50 ($0.19) to LE 5.00 ($0.28) per liter.

The prices of natural gas for homes and butane gas cylinders were also raised by 50 percent and 100 percent respectively.

As a result, Egypt's inflation rate, which was around 30 percent in May, will rise by between 3 and 4.5 percentage points, according to Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk.