SINGAPORE - Petrol prices at the pumps have been on an uptrend for over a month, with the popular 95-octane fuel at one major retail chain crossing the $3 mark.

Caltex, an American brand with the second-smallest network among five majors here, fired the first salvo by posting a price of $3.03 for a litre of 95-octane petrol on Monday afternoon – 11 cents higher than its price five weeks ago.

While prices of all fuels across the five brands have been climbing in the past five weeks, posted rates of regular petrol and diesel at Caltex are now the highest, according to Fuel Kaki, a pump price tracker set up by the Consumers Association of Singapore.

The 92-octane fuel now ranges from $2.86 (SPC) to $2.98 (Caltex), while the 95-octane is between $2.90 (SPC) and $3.03 (Caltex).

The 98-octane fuel ranges from $3.38 (SPC) to $3.46 (Shell), while the so-called premium 98-octane is between $3.54 (Sinopec) and $3.69 (Caltex, Shell).

The price hike comes on the back of rising crude oil prices. The benchmark Brent crude traded at just above US$95 a barrel on Tuesday – its highest since last November.

Reuters reported that the upward trend is being fuelled by weak US shale output and production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

After discounts derived from using selected credit cards and mobile payments, the average price of 92-octane petrol ranges from $2.43 at SPC to $2.49 at Caltex, while that for 95-octane fuel ranges from $2.30 at Sinopec (which has only three stations) to $2.54 (Caltex, Shell).

Fuel Kaki, which started tracking pump prices in Ja...