Another round of fuel price rollback seen next week

Motorists can look forward to another round of reduction in the pump prices of petroleum products in the coming week.

An oil industry source told GMA News Online that the price per liter of diesel may go down by P1.70 to P1.90 per liter.

Gasoline prices, meanwhile, may be slashed by P4.70 to P4.90 per liter.

Fuel firms usually announce price adjustment every Monday, to be implemented the following day.

In a phone interview, Department of Energy-Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad confirmed that a rollback in pump prices is possible next week due to the following factors:

• Intermittent lockdowns in China
• Interest rate hikes in the US and other countries

Abad said the factors could result in tempered economic activity which could eventually lower demand and prices.

Effective last Tuesday, July 12, oil companies rolled back gasoline prices by P5.70 per liter and diesel by P6.10 per liter, bringing the year-to-date adjustments to stand at a net increase of P24.30 per liter for gasoline and P36.80 per liter for diesel.

Data from the Department of Energy as of July 5 to 7 showed the price per liter of gasoline range from P77.90 to P89.61 per liter in Quezon City — Metro Manila’s largest city - while diesel prices range between P83.65 and P88.01 in Manila — the country’s capital.  —KBK, GMA News