Diesel seen to increase by over P12/liter, gasoline by P7/liter next week

Motorists should brace for another round of big hikes in the domestic pump prices of petroleum products in the coming week, which could mark the 11th straight week of fuel price increases, according to projections by Unioil Petroleum Philippines.

In its fuel price forecast for the March 15 to 21 trading week, the price per liter of diesel may skyrocket by P12.20 to P12.30.

Gasoline prices, meanwhile, are estimated to surge between P6.80 and P7.00 per liter.

An oil industry source earlier told GMA News Online that diesel prices may go up by P12.72 per liter while gasoline may increase by P8.28 per liter next week. 

The price projections are based on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) oil trading data.

The local oil industry uses MOPS, the daily average of all trading transactions between buyer and seller of petroleum products as assessed and summarized by Standard and Poor's Platts, a Singapore-based market wire service.

Fuel firms usually announce price changes every Monday and implement the adjustments on Tuesday.

Effective March 8, Tuesday, oil companies imposed the biggest price hike on petroleum products so far this year, marking the 10th straight week of price increases since the beginning of the year.

Diesel was increased by P5.85 per liter, gasoline was hiked by P3.60 per liter, and kerosene was increased by P4.10 per liter.

Year-to-date adjustments stand at P17.50 per liter for diesel, P13.25 per liter for gasoline, and P11.40 per liter for kerosene.

As of March 10, the prevailing price of gasoline in Quezon City, the largest city in Metro Manila, stands at P63.50 to P76.69 per liter.

Diesel prices range between P59.65 and P66.24 per liter, while kerosene ranges from P65.69 to P72.12 per liter. —KG, GMA News