When will petrol prices go down?
All the mainstream media has been reporting about how low the oil price is and the number of records this pricing has broken. People around the world are saying it is cheaper to buy
oil than to buy daily common items like pizzas and beers."Two large pizzas - cheaper than a barrel of oil. #도미노피자— Ol' Brandon (@BrandonLockhart) January 13, 2016To, inevitably, booze. A native Londoner writes:"
"WTI Crude now trading at $29.59 US a barrel, now cheaper than a pair of pants at @Target. #cdnpoli #oilprice pic.twitter.com/AC7nywuMPK
— CTV - Ian White (@CTVIanWhite) January 15, 2016"
On 13 Jan 2015, the price for 98 octane fuel range was at S$2.24 Shell V-Power (source: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/pump-prices-slide-again-hitting-six-year-lows). One year later on the 19th Jan 2016 the price has dropped a 'staggering' 2 cents or 13 cents base on Shell's website (source: http://www.shell.com.sg/products-services/on-the-road/fuels/price-board.html S$2.22 / S$2.109 before / after discount).
On further research, i realise that the cause of this stagnant situation was due to a tax imposed on petrol prices during Budget 2015. (Source: http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/petrol-duty-rates-be-increased). And just like other taxes and charges imposed to reduce less cars on the road, we can't do anything about it, can we? Remember ERP? COE? So how? Either you switch to public transport or learn and remember to do some of the stuffs below;
1) Plan your route before you set off.
Almost everyone i know including myself is guilty of this. Singapore is a small country indeed and to get from point A to point B would probably not take more than an hour. However, without proper planning, we may get stuck in traffic jams. Large amount of petrol is wasted if you get stuck in a traffic jam or if you decide to set off during rush hour.
2) Stop your engine if you are stationery for 10 minutes.
We should have all heard of this one before, and it makes perfect sense. If you are expecting to wait up to 10 minutes for someone, just switch off the engine. All that air conditioning and car entertainment is drinking up your petrol! But sometime i just wanna enjoy the better things in life.
3) Check your tyre pressures.
This is a simple procedure that take just a few minutes to complete. Different car type require different amount of tyre pressure and instructions can easily be found at the side of your car door. If your car is running on lower than required pressure, it simply means more energy is require to drive the car and more energy equals to more petrol. So make sure to check at least once a month if not more.
4) Get rid of excess weight!
Like myself, the heavier i weigh, the more energy i require to move. I have friends who carry bowling balls and bowling bags weighing over 20 kg in their cars and for convenience sake, it's in the car whether or not there is a bowling game later. Well, you pay the courier guy to send parcels or documents right? In this case, you are paying to deliver those bowling balls to nowhere...but the payment is with petrol.
5) Obey speed limits
It has been rumoured that you would not get caught by the traffic police until you exceed the road speed by by 20 km per hour. Meaning to say it should be ok to travel at 90 km/hr on a 70 km/hr road? In any case, the faster your car goes, the more 'thirsty' it gets. So whether you manage to avoid Mr Traffic Police or arrive at your destination a cool 20 minutes earlier than every one else, you are again...paying it with petrol.
If you actually reach this point of reading through my 5 points of petrol savings but feels they are either too bothersome or unnecessary to you, i suggest you better find ways to save on your other stuffs here.
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