Oil prices down this week

MANILA, Philippines — Motorists can expect lower pump prices for all petroleum products today, to reflect positive developments in the global oil market.

In separate advisories, Shell, Caltex and Seaoil announced that gasoline and diesel prices will go down by P0.60 and P0.95 per liter, respectively. Meanwhile, pump prices for kerosene will decline by P1.15 per liter.

Petro Gazz, Cleanfuel, PTT Philippines and Jetti will apply the same price movements, except for kerosene which they do not offer.

The latest adjustment, which marks the first rollback after four straight weeks of hikes, will bring the year-to-date net increases for gasoline, diesel and kerosene to P10.25, P8.10 and P1.20 per liter, respectively.

The Department of Energy (DOE) said last week that crude oil prices dropped due to China’s weak inflation figures, which indicated soft consumer confidence and possible stimulus efforts by Beijing to boost demand.

China’s consumer prices picked up by 0.2 percent year-on-year in June compared to the 0.3 percent increase in the preceding month, continuing more than a year of weakness.

The stronger dollar and the recovery in oil production in the US also eased domestic pump prices, the DOE added.

Last week, oil companies implemented per liter price hikes of P1.60, P0.65 and P0.60 for gasoline, diesel and kerosene, respectively.