Diesel prices down; gasoline up

MANILA, Philippines — Prices of diesel are expected to extend its series of rollbacks this week, while those of gasoline could rise for a second straight week.

Unioil in its price forecast said motorists should expect fuel prices to have a mixed movement this week.

It anticipates diesel prices to go down by P0.35 to P0.45 per liter, while gasoline should increase between P0.45 and P0.70 per liter.

Rino Abad, Department of Energy (DOE) Oil Industry Management Bureau director, is also seeing the same trend, projecting that diesel prices could go down by P0.20 to P0.30 per liter and those of gasoline by P0.70 to P0.80 per liter.

He also said that kerosene prices could hike by P1.30 to P1.50 per liter.

The price adjustments will be announced by oil companies on Monday and will take effect the following day.

If the forecasted price movements push through, it will be the fourth consecutive week of rollback in the prices of diesel and a second consecutive increase for gasoline.

Last Tuesday, gasoline prices went up by P1.40 per liter, while those of diesel and kerosene decreased by P0.50 per liter and P0.35 per liter, respectively.

These resulted in a year-to-date net increase of P17.25 per liter for gasoline, P36.30 per liter for diesel and P28.60 per liter for kerosene, based on data from the DOE.