PUBLISHED ONMarch 30, 2026 9:05 AMUPDATEDApril 01, 2026 4:20 AMBYSean LerFor nearly four weeks now, Singaporeans have started each new week with news of fuel hikes and new record prices, and it was the same story on Monday (March 30) as Esso kicked off a fresh round of fuel hikes in Shell's wake.
This was followed closely by Caltex and SPC in the evening.
Texas-headquartered Esso announced on Monday afternoon that it had raised diesel prices by 20 cents, to $4.13.
Both Caltex and SPC also applied a 20-cent increase to their respective diesel price.
Their moves mirrored Shell's 20-cent increase for its diesel price on Saturday.
Last week, motorists here got a brief respite from soaring pump prices for three days as major fuel companies here took turns to make downward adjustments for petrol prices.
Shell kicked off price adjustments on March 25 with a five-cent drop in its posted prices for 95-, 98-octane petrol and its more premium V-Power.
The London-headquartered oil and gas company posted a further two-cent drop across its petrol offerings on March 27.
In between Shell's price adjustments, Caltex, Esso, Sinopec and SPC applied a five-cent reduction across their respective petrol offerings on March 26.
But Caltex also raised its diesel price by 20 cents that day.
Following the latest round of fuel hikes, the price of diesel now ranges from $3.72 at Sinopec to $4.13 at Caltex, Esso and Shell.
SPC holds the middle ground at $3.92 per litre of diesel.
| Company / Fuel | 92-octane | 95-octane | 98-octane | Premium | Diesel |
| Caltex* | $3.38 | $3.42 | Not available | $4.11 | $4.13* |
| Esso* | $3.38 | $3.42 | $3.92 | Not available | $4.13* |
| Shell | Not available | $3.40 | $3.92 | $4.14 | $4.13 |
| Sinopec | Not available | $3.42 | $3.92 | $4.05 | $3.72 |
| SPC* | $3.38 | $3.41 | $3.92 | Not available | $3.92* |
| Cnergy** | Not available | $2.48 | $2.80 | Not available | $2.65 |
| Smart Energy | Not available | $2.61 | $2.99 | Not available | $2.83 |
Prices are correct as at 6.50pm on March 30. All prices are before discounts. *Indicates change to posted price(s) on March 30. | |||||
Social media users have increasingly voiced concerns over rising diesel prices which has seen double-digit announcements. Both the recent two rounds of adjustments have been at 20 cents.
Nicholas Neo wrote: "When diesel (price) is affected, non-diesel vehicle drivers/car owners will be affected big time too. The commercial vans and lorries are the ones delivering your packages, groceries and foods."
His views were echoed by user Gino Goh who wrote: "Our essential items are all delivered by big lorries using diesel. So, all our food, vegetable, drinks prices will definitely increase in time to come."
"The government can consider giving business owners with diesel vehicles a one-time road tax rebate this year?," asked user James Tan, though other social media users have pointed out that it would still be taxpayers footing the bill for any subsidy or rebate of this sort.
Several other users also pointed out that while fuel companies here made downward price adjustments on three days last weeks, the decrease was by a few cents; while the increments have been by 10-cent or more.
Last week, AsiaOne reported that even though diesel-only vehicles only make up 15.6 per cent of the total vehicle population in Singapore, they form 85 per cent of goods vehicles here.
These vehicles are used heavily in logistics — ranging from delivery of parcels to the daily resupply of ingredients at food stalls, to the transportation of materials and supply for construction, manufacturing, and processing.
At some point the higher operating costs for transportation may be passed on by businesses to consumers, driving up the costs of food and goods.
Small and medium enterprises, accounting for 99 per cent of businesses in Singapore and hiring about 70 per cent of the workforce, will also see rising operating costs which will in turn impact their profit margins and sustainability.
Meanwhile, the global Brent benchmark continued to soar after markets opened on Monday, rising past US$116 (S$149) at the time of this article's publication.
This comes amidst growing uncertainties over the lack of an exit strategy in the Middle East as the Pentagon reportedly mulls preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran.
In an interview with the Financial Times published on Monday, US President Donald Trump also openly mused about seizing Iran's Kharg Island oil terminal in the Persian Gulf.
"Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't. We have a lot of options," Trump said.
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