Taxi companies say they are still monitoring the situation as
fuel prices ease. None of the Singapore operators has yet decided
to cut its 30 cent fuel surcharge - although airlines' fuel
surcharges are edging downward.
Ms Tammy Tan, group corporate communications officer at
ComfortDelGro, said: "We are glad that fuel prices have been
trending downwards in recent weeks and we are closely monitoring
the situation. At current prices, fuel is still trading at a
significant premium to what it was less than a year ago. Diesel is
now selling at a net price of $1.53 per litre in the market
compared to the net price of $1.19 it was retailing for in December
2007."
Other taxi operators like TransCab and SMRT also said they are
monitoring the situation.
Fuel prices in Singapore are generally higher than the WTI
figures, which are used as a standard worldwide, due to "crack
spreads" that add another US$15 to US$20 per barrel to prices here,
Ms Tan said.
"We will remove the fuel surcharge when market pump prices drop
to their December 2007 levels, as we have committed"
Singapore Airlines (SIA) removed fuel surcharges on some of its
flights to East and South-east Asia and Australia last month, but
its surcharges on long-haul flights to the US and Canada remain
unchanged.
A spokesperson said: "SIA keeps the level of fuel surcharge and
its application under review on an ongoing basis, and responds to
sustained trend movements in the price of jet fuel, not headline
movements, and not on the price of crude oil (which is a product we
don't buy, use or consume)."
(The above was extracted from the Wed edition of TODAY dated
15th Oct 2008)
