Big-time pump price hike set Tuesday; gasoline up by P1.90/l; diesel P2.10/l

Motorists will have to pay more for petroleum products this week, as firms on Monday announced a big-time hike to mark the second straight week of increases for both diesel and kerosene.

In separate advisories, Chevron Philippines Inc. (Caltex), Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Seaoil Philippines Corp. said they will hike prices per liter of gasoline by P1.90, diesel by P2.10, and kerosene by P1.80.

Cleanfuel, Petro Gazz, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc., PTT Philippines Corp., and Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc. will implement the same changes, excluding kerosene which they do not carry.

The changes will take effect at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, July 18, for all the firms except for Cleanfuel which will adjust prices at 4:01 p.m. the same day.

Other firms have yet to make similar announcements for the week.

Firms last week rolled back prices per liter of gasoline by P0.20 and hiked those of diesel by P0.75 and kerosene by P0.50.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oil Industry Management Bureau earlier said increases are expected this week, due to the scheduled supply cuts along with hopes for higher demand.

Latest data available from the DOE indicate a net increase of P5.65 per liter for gasoline, and net decreases of P2.95 per liter for diesel, and P5.50 per liter for kerosene as of July 14, 2023.

PISTON reacts

The Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) on Sunday expressed ire over the expected increase in the pump prices of petroleum products this week.

“Sa atin, talagang nakakagalit dahil sa patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng produktong petroloyo dito sa ating bansa. Ngayong darating na Martes, halos kulang-kulang P2 ang panibagong itataas sa presyo ng diesel at gayon din sa presyo ng gasolina na kung saan ito ay magdudulot talaga ng pagliit ng kita ng ating mga driver at operator,” PISTON national president Mody Floranda said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(For us, the continuous increase in the prices of petroleum products in our country is really causing anger. This coming Tuesday, almost P2 will be added again to the prices of diesel and gasoline which will result in a reduced take home pay for our drivers and operators.)

With this, he renewed the group’s appeal for the government to amend the provisions of the Oil Deregulation Law or reduce the excise tax on petroleum products.

Under the law, formally known as the Downstream Industry Deregulation Act, government control is removed to help oil companies become more competitive with their supply and pricing of petroleum products. —KG/RSJ, GMA Integrated News