ABU DHABI, Aug 30: The United Arab Emirates, a member of the Opec oil cartel, announced on Tuesday a 30 per cent rise in the price of petrol and diesel at the pumps because of soaring costs.

The price of a gallon of petrol rose by 1.5 dirhams (40 cents) to between 6.25 and 6.75 dirhams (between $1.71 and $1.83), while diesel went up 1.4 dirhams to 7.70 dirhams ($2), the official WAM news agency reported.

The price rises, due to come into effect on Thursday, were introduced despite the UAE being a major oil producer, pumping around 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd).

WAM said the domestic rise was necessary to offset “the financial losses of distributors over past years, to the point where they could no longer sustain the losses given the unprecedented rise in oil prices” on the world market.

Like fellow producers, the UAE, which relies on oil for some 80 per cent of its revenue, has enjoyed a windfall from rising crude prices.—AFP