Diesel may roll back by over P12/liter, gasoline by over P6/liter next week —industry source

After 11 straight weeks of hikes, motorists may expect a sigh of relief in the coming week as pump prices of petroleum products are projected to roll back big time.

Citing data of oil trading in the past four days based on the Mean of Platts Singapore, an oil industry source told GMA News Online on Friday that the price per liter of diesel may go down by P12.51.

Gasoline prices, meanwhile, may be slashed by P6.57 per liter.

The estimated price adjustments, however, are still subject to change depending on the day’s trading results, the same source said.

In its fuel price forecast for March 21 to 28 trading week, Unioil Petroleum Philippines said diesel prices may roll back by P10.70 to P10.90 per liter, while gasoline prices may decrease by P5.10 to P5.30 per liter.

The local oil industry uses Mean of Platts Singapore, the daily average of all trading transactions between buyers and sellers of petroleum products as assessed and summarized by Standard and Poor’s Platts.

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

On Wednesday, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi floated a possible oil price rollback next week due to the recent developments in countries such as China, Ukraine, and Russia.

Cusi said that fuel prices in the country may also go down next week if such a trend continues and reach $104 to $105 per barrel.

On Tuesday, fuel firms hiked diesel by P13.15 per liter, gasoline by P7.10 per liter, and kerosene by P10.50 per liter.

Prices of petroleum products have increased for 11 consecutive weeks since the beginning of the year, bringing the year-to-date adjustments for diesel to a net increase of P30.65 per liter, gasoline at P20.35 per liter, and kerosene at P24.90 per liter.

The government released fuel subsidies for both public transportation and agriculture sectors to cushion any inflationary impact of the rising fuel prices. — RSJ/VBL, GMA News