Ammon News - AMMAN - The government on Thursday increased the price of 90-octane gas by 9 percent, 95-octane gas by 9.5 percent, and diesel and kerosene by 8.5 percent.

Under the new price update, 90- and 95-octane gas will be sold at JD0.485 and JD0.575 per liter respectively, up from JD0.445 and JD0.525, while diesel and kerosene will be sold at JD0.445 per liter, up from JD0.410, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

As of last Thursday, the average of oil prices on international markets stood at around $77 a barrel compared with $67.02 a barrel, the price on which the last was calculated, President of the Gas Station Owners Association Fahd Fayez told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

Just two days before the new was announced, several citizens in parts of the capital complained of shortages of kerosene and diesel, claiming that gas station owners were attempting to profit from the expected rise in prices of fuel on the local market due to the hike in international oil prices.

Of those was Salman Saadeh, a west Amman resident, who told The Jordan Times on Wednesday that he had gone to several gas stations that day to fill up his heating system tanks with diesel, to no avail.

"They all said that they have no diesel in their tankers. I don’t think it was true. They just wanted to make money from the expected increase in prices," Saadeh said.

But according to Fayez, demand for fuel peaked last Sunday, amounting to 14,800 tons of all types, adding that over the following four days, demand declined, reaching its low of 2,300 tons on Thursday, compared with an average of around 7,000 tons at this time of year.

He added that the association has not received any complaints regarding shortages of oil supplies at its member gas stations.
He underlined that owners of gas stations are committed to keeping their storage tanks at least 20-25 per cent full in order to avoid long queues of vehicles after any sudden increase in demand.

By Hani Hazaimeh / The Jordan Times