Hefty fuel price hike seen next week

MANILA, Philippines — Oil companies are expected to implement hefty increases in pump prices next week, marking a second consecutive week of price hikes for diesel and kerosene.

Cleanfuel said running trend showed potential upward adjustments of P1.50 per liter in gasoline and P1.70 per liter in diesel.

An oil industry source, on the other hand, estimated the possible increase for diesel to range from P1.85 to P1.95 per liter and between P1.65 and P1.75 per liter for gasoline.

“There is a strong chance that we will see an increase in all three products: gasoline, diesel and kerosene,” Department of Energy (DOE)-Oil Industry Management Bureau director Rino Abad said in an interview with dzBB yesterday.

Abad has estimated a more than P1 per liter rise in the prices of all three products.

The DOE official attributed the increase in global oil prices this week to the earlier commitment of Saudi Arabia to cut production by one million barrels per day this month.

“The market sees that Saudi is doing something to deliver on the commitment,” 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 companies implemented a round of mixed adjustments in pump prices.

The price of gasoline decreased by P0.20 per liter, while diesel and kerosene prices went up by P0.75 per liter and P0.50 per liter, respectively.

These price adjustments resulted in a year-to-date net decrease of P2.95 per liter for diesel and P5.50 per liter for kerosene, data from the DOE showed.

Gasoline, on the other hand, has a year-to-date net increase of P5.65 per liter.