Peninsular Malaysia diesel-powered pick-up truck owners will literally cry to the bank as the hole in their pockets is bound to grow larger with the 80 sen price hike to RM5.52/ litre effective today while their Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan peers should probably count their blessings that their prices remain unchanged at RM2.15/litre.
This follows the latest price review for the March 26 to April 1 period by the Finance Ministry which also saw the retail price of RON97 petrol edging up 60 sen to RM5.15/litre.
📢 Pelarasan Harga Runcit Petroleum
26 Mac – 01 April 2026Konflik Asia barat yang berlarutan sejak penghujung Februari 2026, telah melonjakkan harga minyak mentah global. Sehubungan itu, Kerajaan menyelaraskan harga bahan api selain daripada RON95 BUDI MADANI pic.twitter.com/d9180NBTZe
— Ministry of Finance🇲🇾 (@MOFmalaysia) March 25, 2026
Meanwhile, the price of unsubsidised RON95 petrol will go up by 60 sen to RM3.87/litre for the same period while that of subsidised RON95 petrol price under the BUDI95 initiative will remain unchanged at RM1.99/litre.
The latest price spiral trend of three consecutive 80 sen hikes to RM5.52/litre has led Madani critic Datuk Eric See-To wondering if “the government is no longer guided by the APM (Automatic Pricing Mechanism) oil price formula”.
“In fact, if the actual APM formula was used, the price of diesel today should be around RM4.97/litre, not RM5.52/litre,” the former Barisan Nasional (BN) strategic communication deputy director revealed in a Facebook post.
The question is whether the Madani government also imposing SST (sales and service tax) on diesel when its price has already soared so high?”
Whatever the reason is, the loyalist of disgraced former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak went on t0 tease if “the Madani government is so financially desperate” to impose the hike.
“Or so indifferent to the burden on the rakyat that it has allowed the price of diesel to soar too quickly to RM5.52/litre without any effort to control the increase in stages?” he jibed. Does the government want inflationary pressure at its maximum?”
At the current RM5.52/litre level, the diesel price gap between Peninsular Malaysia and other regions has widened from Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan (RM2.15/litre); Thailand (RM3.93/litre) and Indonesia (personal use RM1.85/litre; commercial RM3.85/litre), among others.
A browse at the comment section revealed disgruntlement as to why the price spike stull persists when “Malaysian oil tankers aren’t restricted from passing through the Straut of Hormuz”.
“During the Ukraine- Russia war when Brent crude oil reached US$110/barre, our diesel was still only RM2 plus. Anyway, brent crude prices have started to stabilise this week below US$100/barrel yet our petrol and diesel prices are still going up,” fumed a café founder. “Isn’t this ridiculous, Madani?”
This is when another commenter explained that during the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, the Strait of Hormuz in which 50% of Malaysian imported oil supply pass through was still open.
“But with the Strait of Hormuz now closed, our ships will have to go around the African continent (Cape of Gode Hope) of which the journey will take 14 days more and the cost of renting a ship (freight) will increase by 300%,” justified a global market analyst.
“This emergency logistics cost is what is putting pressure on our oil prices even though the Brent crude prices seem stable.
“Another thing is about insurance. Because the Strait of Hormuz is a major conflict zone right now, insurers are imposing crazy high war risk premiums on every cargo of oil we import. This additional insurance cost wasn’t there in 2022 but now we have to also bear escalating refining cost.” – March 26, 2026
Main image credit: The New Isuzu D-Max; Edward Chong/Facebook
