RON97 to cost more from September 2009

PUTRAJAYA: The RON97 petrol will be sold at RM2 per litre effective Sept 1, which is 20 sen more than its current selling price once the RON95 version is available nationwide.

The RON97 will be sold as a premium petrol product while RON92, the cheapest petrol currently available, will be removed from the market.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that RON95, to be sold at RM1.75, would be available to consumers in stages effective today and all petrol stations nationwide would sell the product by Sept 1.

“By Sept 1, RON97 will be the alternative petrol and a premium product. Instead, the RON95 petrol will be the choice petrol for consumers and rest assured, the product is of high quality and is good enough to be filled in even luxury and high-powered cars,” he told reporters after the soft launch of RON95 here yesterday.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is expected to launch the nationwide sale of the petrol in September.

Ismail Sabri said the decision to phase out RON92 would not affect consumers as statistics show that only 5% to 10% of vehicle owners use the petrol, adding that by paying only five sen more for a litre, consumers would get to enjoy better quality petrol.

He said that at RM1.75 per litre, the Government has to fork out three sen in subsidy for RON95 while a subsidy of six sen is paid for every litre of RON97, adding that it could not be determined yet if there would be revenue for the Government when RON97 is sold at RM2 as it depended on the global petrol price.

He said the Government, through his ministry, has implemented various programmes to help the public cushion the effect of an increase in the cost of living, including allocating RM812mil for projects such as distribution of essential goods including rice, cooking oil, sugar, flour and liquified petroleum gas.