Petrol prices in Saudi Arabia may go up by 80 percent

Saudi Arabia sells petrol and other petroleum products for some of the lowest prices in the world. But recently, the Saudi Arabian government is trying to diversify its economy away from oil as the future of “black gold” is uncertain. As part of that, there are apparently plans to link fuel prices in the country to the varying international prices. This will bring an instant increase of up to 80 percent in the fuel prices.

This information came from a “reliable source” and reported by Bloomberg. According to the source, who wishes to remain anonymous, these changes will happen as early as November. The octane-91 grade petrol will jump from 0.75 riyals per litre to 1.35 riyals per litre, which is a steep increase of 80 percent. The other fuels will see an increase in early 2018. This trend will also affect other petroleum products like jet fuel as well.

The dropping of subsidies will be controlled though. The government may cap the increase in prices as the domestic market heavily depends on oil for transportation and energy production.