How will you benefit from the new RON95 petrol?

Thursday September 3, 2009 How will you benefit from the new RON95 petrol? By LEONG HUNG YEE

PETALING JAYA: RON95 was the buzz at neighbourhood petrol stations as consumers had to quickly grasp the differences between the RON92 (which is discontinued) and RON97 (which has been upgraded) and the new, more environment friendly oil.

The first thing they want to know is how they will benefit from this change to RON95 which retails at RM1.80 per litre.

�About 90% of motorists using RON97 (which has been upgraded to a premium product and sold at a higher price of RM2.05 per lire) can now switch to RON95,� said Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumer Affairs Ministry secretary-general Datuk Zain Mohd Dom.

�The price of RM1.80 for RON95 will be capped at this level for the rest of the year,�� Zain told StarBiz, referring to a statement earlier by Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. �It moves within an active price range, depending on the price trend of oil gauged over a one-month period.��

All this while, consumers have been using RON97 which is too powerful for cars today. �Take a look at car manuals and one will often find that RON95 is recommended,�� said Zain, adding that RON97 had stronger ingredients that were more suitable for higher powered cars.

RON (research octane number) measures the octane quality of fuel. It refers to the fuel�s ability to resist premature and uncontrolled combustion that occurs when fuel pre-ignites before ignition by the spark plug.

The newly-introduced RON95 fuel is priced at RM1.80, five sen higher than that of RON92, which is leaded petrol. Concurrently, RON97 has been upgraded as a premium product and its price has gone up to RM2.05 from RM1.80.

Ismail had said at a press conference on Tuesday although the price of RON95 was higher, the Government was still subsidising 33.81 sen per litre, which comes up to about RM304mil monthly.

He said the upward revision of the prices was necessary as the global crude oil price had doubled since the announcement by former minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad in March that RON95 would be sold at RM1.75.

Currently, the Government is subsidising 42.72 sen per litre for RON97.

While consumers who were using RON92 are required to pay more when they upgrade to RON95, those using RON97 and are able to downgrade to RON95 will save 25 sen per litre.