IraqSlogger's sources report a striking reversal of trends in street prices of an important petroleum derivative this week, as the fuel's black-market prices moved even more dramatically than the trends that Slogger sources were reported last week -- and in the opposite direction.

Slogger's exclusive data from nine disparate Baghdad neighborhoods shows the latest trends in the capital in the prices of the staples of auto fuel, cooking gas, Marlboro cigarettes, and two kinds of bread.

This week's drop in informal auto fuel prices, visible in the table below, is dramatic, considering that last week Slogger sources reported jumps in auto fuel ranging between five and 12 percent, while other commodities were mostly stable.

In just one week since that time, fuel prices dropped as much as almost 16% in Karrada, and were down by anywhere from five percent to nearly 12 percent in most other districts. Only Hayy al-'Amil reports stable prices in auto fuel this week, according to Slogger sources.

Meanwhile, most of the other action occurred in cooking gas prices, where divergent trends were observed. In four districts, prices held steady, while three saw decreases – dropping by 12.5% in Karrada – and two districts saw increases in the seven-to-nine percent range.

Apart from slight fluctuation in cigarette prices in Sadr City and Sha'b, Slogger sources report stable prices in Marlboros, and in two staple Iraqi breads, khubuz and samoun, this week.

Stay tuned for more exclusive prices data later in the week.

Auto Fuel (ID/liter)

Official price = 400 ID/liter

Cooking gas (ID/cylinder)

Official price = 4000 ID/cylinder

Samoun (ID/piece)

Khubuz (ID/piece)

For all of IraqSlogger's prices coverage, click here.

To see a map showing the location of the nine different neighborhoods in Baghdad where Slogger's sources provide prices data, click here.