Petrol prices in the Gulf: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain

Petrol in the six Gulf Cooperation Council states costs between $0.34 a litre in Kuwait (KWD 0.105) and $1.17 in the UAE (AED 4.28), according to GlobalPetrolPrices data retrieved 2026-10-13. All six sit well below the world median of $1.55, and every one ranks among the cheapest 36 of 170 countries. Yet the most expensive Gulf pump charges 3.4 times the cheapest, a bigger gap than many people expect from neighbours with similar oil wealth.

Gulf petrol prices compared

Local prices use today’s exchange rates. The change column compares our latest snapshot with our first, on 2026-07-03.

Two pricing models: monthly market prices vs fixed prices

The UAE is the region’s clearest break from fixed fuel prices. In 2015 it deregulated petrol and diesel, and since then a government committee has set pump prices every month in line with global fuel prices. That makes UAE prices move up and down with the oil market, and it explains why the Emirates tops the Gulf table: when world prices are high, UAE drivers see it at the pump almost immediately.

The other states set prices administratively, and changes are less frequent. Between our two snapshots, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman were essentially unchanged, while the UAE (+30.0%) and Bahrain (−8.3%) moved. A stable price is not the same as a cheap one in economic terms: every litre sold below what it could earn on export markets is revenue the state gives up, which is why several Gulf governments have gradually raised prices or introduced price formulas over the past decade.

Pegged currencies keep the comparison clean

Five of the six currencies are pegged to the US dollar, so the dollar figures above move only when the pump price changes, not because of exchange rates. Today’s rates: 3.64 QAR, 3.75 SAR, 0.3845 OMR, 0.376 BHD, 3.6725 AED per dollar. The Kuwaiti dinar is the exception: it is pegged to an undisclosed basket of currencies, so its dollar rate (0.3110 KWD) can drift slightly. Because the dinar is such a large unit, Kuwait’s price of KWD 0.105 a litre looks tiny on paper; in dollars it is $0.34. The practical upshot for expats paid in one Gulf currency and driving in another is that the price you see is the price you pay; there is no currency risk to factor in.

A year of driving, against income

Gulf commutes are long and cars tend to be large, so annual fuel use is high. Assuming 15,000 km a year at 9 L/100 km (1,350 litres), a year of petrol costs:

• Kuwait: $458 (KWD 142), or 1.1% of average income per person
• Qatar: $778 (QAR 2,830), or 1.0% of average income per person
• Saudi Arabia: $840 (SAR 3,148), or 2.3% of average income per person
• Oman: $840 (OMR 322), or 4.3% of average income per person
• Bahrain: $884 (BHD 332), or 3.1% of average income per person
• United Arab Emirates: $1,573 (AED 5,775), or 3.1% of average income per person

At the world median price the same driving would cost about $2,094. Income here is World Bank GNI per capita, which in the Gulf includes a large expatriate workforce on very different wages, so treat the percentages as a national average rather than a typical household’s budget.

Cheap energy extends to the grid: household electricity runs from $0.031 per kWh in Oman to $0.080 in the UAE, among the lowest rates anywhere. That makes an electric car very cheap to run at home; see the cost to charge an electric car for the full comparison.

For everyday costs beyond fuel in the region’s biggest expat hub, read the cost of living in Dubai. To see how the Gulf compares with the rest of the world’s subsidised producers, read the cheapest gas in the world, and for country detail open the UAE or Saudi Arabia.