Fuel prices seen to go up next week

After seven straight weeks of price rollbacks, motorists shall brace for an increase in the pump prices of petroleum products in the coming week.

Citing oil trading in the past four days (August 15 to 18), an oil industry source told GMA News Online that the  price per liter of diesel may increase by P2.00 to P2.20.

Gasoline prices, meanwhile, may go up by P0.10 to P0.30 per liter.

The projected price adjustments are still subject to change depending on the results of Friday’s trading, according to the oil industry source.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Department of Energy Oil Industry Management Bureau Assistant Director Rodela Romero confirmed that diesel and kerosene may go up by over P2.00 per liter, while gasoline may slightly increase by more or less P0.25 per liter.

“Kadahilalanan lumaki ang pagbaba sa imbentaryo ng krudo ng United States,” Romero said.

(The reason for the adjustment is the sharp decline in crude inventories from the United States.)

The Energy official said the recent development confirms that the demand for crude is still huge despite fears of slowdown in global economic activity.

“Andun pa rin sa isyu ng tightness ng supply [due to] geopolitical conflict such as the Russia-Ukraine war,” she said.

(The issue on tightness of supply due geopolitical conflict such as the Russia-Ukraine war still lingers.)

Oil companies usually announce price adjustments every Monday, to be implemented on the following day.

Effective Tuesday, August 16, fuel companies rolled back the prices per liter of gasoline by P0.10, diesel by P1.05, and kerosene by P0.45.

The latest price changes brought the year-to-date total adjustments to stand at a net increase of P17.45 per liter for gasoline, P29.10 per liter for diesel and P24.30 per liter for kerosene.

Latest data from the DOE showed the price per liter of gasoline range from P65.05 to P75.76 per liter in Quezon City, Metro Manila’s largest city; diesel prices range from P71.90 to P78.30 in Makati City, the country’s top financial hub; while in Philippine capital Manila, kerosene prices range from P73.44 to P85.00 per liter. — RSJ, GMA News