Petrol Costs in the United Arab Emirates

Further in the series on prices and the cost of living in the United Arab Emirates is this posting on the cost of filling up the car at the Petrol Station.

This week when I filled up the car this was the cost of fuel:

91 octane (marked red at the UAE pumps) was Dh 5.75 [US $1.56, AUS $1.89] a gallon.

95 octane (marked green and called ‘special’) it was Dh 6.25 [US $1.70, AUS $2.06] a gallon.

Diesel was Dh 8.60 [US $2.34, AUS $2.83] a gallon.

To fill up my small to medium sized car (Ford Focus) with 9.92 gallons cost Dh 62. At the moment the cost of filling up a small car in France (where there are additional taxes) is approximately 70 Euros.

The prices for petrol seem consistent throughout the UAE and do not appear to fluctuate from station to station as in many other countries. Consequently, the prices are not advertised to woo approaching cars, as if to say, “Our prices are cheap, come and fill up here.” The price of diesel does, however, change frequently throughout the UAE.

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the USA rose about 18 cents to $2.78 [Dh10.2] during the past two weeks, according to the latest Lundberg survey of 7,000 filling stations.

For comparative prices around the world, readers might like to check the site, Gasoline Usage and Prices. I am presuming the imperial gallon is also used here in the UAE.

One other feature in the UAE is that petrol stations are still ‘service stations’ in every sense of the word. Petrol, oil and water (or whatever) is put into your car by service station attendants and credit card facilities are alongside the pumps so you never have to leave the cool of your car.

While the car is filled the attendants wash and clean your car windows. Once when the service station was particularly busy I got out of my car and started to clean the windows myself. Very quickly one of the attendants came up and asked to take the sponge and cleaning blade from me saying, “Please. It’s my duty!”

Geoff Pound

Image: ADNOC Petrol Station attendant, Abdul Rasheed, from India, filling my car up with petrol and giving good cleaning service.