The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) is very, very angry with petrol firms and have accused them of "profiteering".

In fact, they are so angry, they have sent out letters to the petrol companies demanding they explain why they increased prices.

This was after petrol prices across the island were raised on Feb. 24, 2015, a day after a hike in petrol duty prices was announced by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugartnam during the Budget 2015 speech on Monday.

The increase resulted in prices going up to S$0.25 for a litre of 98-octane grade petrol and as much as S$0.18 for 95-octane grade petrol, which is 5 cents and 3 cents higher than the increases in the respective petrol duty rates.

CASE Executive Director Seah Seng Choon said:

"While petrol prices have fallen by 2 cents as compared to yesterday, pump prices are still higher than the recommended 15 to 20 cents increase for intermediate and premium grade petrol respectively. We would still require the petrol companies to give a satisfactory explanation as to why their prices have increased beyond the tax increment."

And not only is CASE very, very angry, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Competition Commission of Singapore said on Wednesday in a joint statement that they “will not hesitate to take firm action against parties who are found to be engaging in anti-competitive behaviour at the expense of consumers”.

Oooh, this must have gotten the petrol companies running scared.

In response to media queries, one petrol company, Shell, told Channel News Asia they considered a slew of factors such as crude oil prices, exchange rates, manufacturing and production costs from crude oil to fuel, the distribution costs of bringing the fuel to retail sites, operating costs of running service stations, and goods and services taxes, all of which will have an impact on pump prices.

CASE, let's see how much bite you have in you, watchdog.

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