Serpentine queues could be seen at several petrol stations across the UAE before midnight on this day, August 31, 19 years ago – as motorists rushed to beat the new petrol price.
“The party is now over for motorists,” Khaleej Times wrote on its front page the following day, describing the bumper-to-bumper wait for those who wanted to fill up their tanks and save some dirhams.
Prior to that day, it was a time when most residents were not bothered about the money they spent on fuel. In fact, fuel costs rarely figured in the monthly budget of families, Khaleej Times had noted, as the price of petrol was the same – or even cheaper – than a big bottle of water or a can of soda.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
At the stroke of midnight on September 1, 2005, the bubble was burst following the 30 per cent hike that set the price of petrol at Dh1.50 per litre. The government imposed the increase in the wake of a global hike in prices of crude oil.
Khaleej Times caught with some motorists on the streets that time to hear their sentiments.
Sultan Al Banki, a Bahraini who was a regular visitor to Dubai said: “I can’t accept the situation where we in the Middle East, who produce oil for the entire world, have to shell out such high rates for petrol. The Dh1.50 increase per gallon is too steep and unbelievable.”
Then Dubai resident Manwar Ahmed added: “I have to rethink going out with my friends regularly on weekends now that I will have to dig deeper into my pocket for the additional burden.
Another Dubai resident, Khalid Hussain, then said: “The middle class families would definitely feel the pinch of the petrol price hike. I used to go out with my friends, particularly during weekends. I’m still reeling with spiralling rents and increase in prices of essential commodities, and now we have petrol price increase.”
“The hike in petrol price will ultimately lead to increase in prices of other commodities, which will have major impact on the population, particularly the low income group,” added another resident who was not named in the Khaleej Times report.
Mohammed Salim, who worked as a manager, noted: “The international increase in petrol prices affected the UAE, and naturally this increase would affect the consumers the most. Transportation prices are bound to go up, which in turn, will lead to increase in prices of consumer goods. In my opinion, because the UAE is an oil producing country, this international price increase should not have affected it. Nevertheless, I think petrol is still much cheaper here compared to other countries.”
Fast forward 10 years, in August 2015, the UAE started the deregulation of retail fuel rates. Since then, petrol prices have been revised monthly to align with global prices.