Gas Prices

One of the most common questions we get when we return home or people find out we live in Dubai is "What is the price of gas?". We honestly don't pay that much attention...for starters everything is in liters not gallons. Plus, there are no signs at the gas stations with the posted prices. Gas cost the same regardless of what station you go to. We also don't pump our own gas. There isn't even the option for self-service. There are attendants waiting for you as you pull into the pump. Gas stations are also only "cash only", which I find slightly annoying. I recently read an article in one of the local newspapers regarding gas prices in Dubai but also the rest of the Middle East. I found it quite interesting and thought it would help answer the question, "How much do you pay for gas?"

According to the paper, the United Arab Emirates has some of the highest gas prices in the Arab world. The gas in the UAE is also heavily subsidized by the government. At the start of 2011, the UAE had the fourth largest refining capacity in the Arab World after Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq but most of the production takes place in Abu Dhabi with plans to set up new refining units in other Emirates. The country's gasoline production is also the sixth largest in the region after Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Egypt and Algeria. Surprisingly, Dubai still imports some of its gasoline for domestic use, paying market price per barrel but because of the government subsidized prices we never see those costs or a fluctuation in price.

Some members of The Federal National Council, (the UAE's appointment parliament) has actually called for a "cutting of gasoline prices to bring them in line with other Middle Eastern countries.

According to the local newspaper (Emirates 24/7, February 2012) here are the gas prices (I have converted them to gallons and US dollars).

UAE-$1.50/gallon
Saudi Arabia- $0.41/gallon
Kuwait-$0.37/gallon
Qatar-$0.68/gallon

We recently decided to take advantage of the extremely low gas prices and our last opportunity for a discount on GM vehicles and traded in our Chevy Malibu for a Chevy Tahoe. We figured this is the one time in our life we could buy this big of a truck and not have to worry about spending $100+ to fill it up. We can actually fill it up for about 150 dirhams, which is equivalent to about $40!