Gas prices up, diesel price down

MANILA, Philippines - Oil companies raised gasoline prices by 60 centavos per liter effective midnight last night but reduced prices of diesel by 35 centavos per liter, local petroleum players said in separate announcements yesterday.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., a major oil player, was the first to announce the price adjustments that took effect yesterday morning.

Caltex Philippines and Petron Corp., the two other major oil companies, as well as the independent oil players, also issued similar announcements.

“PTT Philippines will implement a P0.35 per liter rollback on the price of diesel effective at 1 p.m. today, Tuesday, May 20, 2014. Prices of gasoline, on the other hand, will increase by P0.60 per liter effective 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, May 21, 2014 to reflect movement in international market,” said PTT Philippines, the local subsidiary of Thailand’s biggest oil company.

Similarly, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines announced that it has increased the price of gasoline by 60 centavos per liter and decreased the price of diesel by 35 centavos per liter effective yesterday morning.

“This is to reflect the movements in the prices of refined petroleum products in the world market,” Phoenix said.

Prices of diesel range from P42.40 to P45.80 per liter while diesel prices range from P42.40 to P45.80 per liter.

In its latest oil monitoring report, the Department of Energy (DOE) said rising oil exports by Libya, though still far from earlier levels of near 1.4 million barrels per day, have been contributing to the drop in prices.