What Heng-Cheong Leong of Myapplemenu doesn't understand.

Heng-Cheong Leong has attacked my posting below, "An Unkept Singaporean Promise" on his myapplemenu site. His attack is ill-informed and based on the presumption that I did not see an article with the figures in it that I saw. How, I wonder, does Heng-Cheong know what another person saw or did not see? I find his implicit telepathy a wonder indeed. Perhaps he should join the intelligence services (but perhaps other qualifications would be needed too, which he evidently lacks.)

Anyway, he quibbles that his own research turned up a press release saying that Comfort Delgro would drop the fuel surcharge if diesel fell to its level in December 2007 – that of 1.19 singapore dollars to the litre. He maintains that this is different to what I was saying. It is not, in essence. I will explain.

I recall an article saying that the surcharge would be dropped if crude oil reached 109 dollars or less. Now these are not, as Heng-Cheong believes, rather rudely, that different. You see diesel is made from crude oil and the price of one affects the other. Crude oil was priced at 97 US dollars at its spike in December 2007 – please see link below for confirmation. (Note this is pretty close to the 109 figure I saw, as the threshold for price reduction. It would result in a very similar price for diesel.)

http://www.oag.com/oag/website/com/en/Home/Travel+Magazine/Executive+Travel/Travelers+Briefing/A+crude+awakening+Oil+prices+hit+new+high+071107

Now, after this on December 17th 2007, the market price for Diesel was 1.19 singapore dollars per litre.

So, the question is, what SHOULD the diesel price be now? (This is a question that Heng-Cheong doesn't ask: he just accepts the quoted price). Well, it is a simple computation to make: it is going to be roughly the ratio of the present price of oil (72 USD this morning) divided by the price in December 2007, when it spiked, 97 USD) multiplied by 1.19 singapore dollars per litre. Doing this, we get an EXPECTED price of diesel of 88 cents per litre. However, the price presently still hovers around double that at 1.60 dollars. Thus, we are being DOUBLY ripped off. The price of diesel should be half what it is at the pumps – and the surcharge should have dropped since the underlying fundamental price of diesel should be below the 1.19 Sing Dollar per litre cut off mark.

So, it can be seen that my argument stands. Diesel should be cheap again – and the surcharge should have been dropped. Heng-Cheong Leong has been offensive for nothing. He really should take his own advice – and google some more – and think a little, too. Then all would become clearer.

I hope this has painted a fuller picture of the fuel situation here, in Singapore, for everyone.

Thanks.

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