Oil price hike seen next week

MANILA, Philippines — Motorists will not see back-to-back weeks of price rollbacks as pump prices are seen rising next week.

Following a slight reduction implemented by oil companies last Tuesday, the price of diesel is expected to jump by P1.15 to P1.25 per liter, while that of gasoline is seen increasing by P0.15 to P0.25 per liter, according to an oil industry source.

Cleanfuel, for its part, said running trend showed a potential upward adjustment of P1.10 per liter for diesel and P0.30 per liter for gasoline.

“We are expecting an increase next week in all products based on the four days of trading,” Department of Energy (DOE) Oil Industry Management Bureau director Rino Abad said in an interview with dzBB yesterday.

Abad said the potential hike in both diesel and kerosene prices could be more than P1 per liter.

For gasoline, he said the increase should not be more than P0.50 per liter, unless Friday’s trading will have a major adjustment.

“Globally, the biggest threat is still the July commitment of Saudi Arabia to cut production by one million barrels per day,” Abad said.

The final pump price movements will be announced by oil companies on Monday, which will take effect the next day.

Last Tuesday, oil firms cut prices of gasoline by P0.35 per liter, diesel by P0.10 per liter and kerosene by P0.30 per liter.

The adjustments resulted in a year-to-date net decrease of P4.05 per liter for diesel and P6.35 per liter for kerosene, data from the DOE showed.

Gasoline, on the other hand, has a year-to-date net increase of P6.35 liter.