Pump prices on rollback: P0.55/liter for gasoline; P0.60/liter for diesel

Published June 11, 2018, 5:57 PM By Myrna Velasco

https://business.mb.com.ph/2018/06/11/pump-prices-on-rollback-p0-55liter-for-gasoline-p0-60liter-for-diesel/

With continuing downturn in global prices, Filipino motorists can enjoy another week of cost relief as pump prices are striding toward fresh round of rollback this week by P0.55 per liter for gasoline; and P0.60 per liter for diesel and kerosene products.

As of this writing, the first oil companies to send notices to the media on slashed prices had been Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc., Seaoil, PTT Philippines, Total and Eastern Petroleum — effective 6:00am on Tuesday (June 12). The oil firms said this round of cost movement is in keeping with “the softening of prices in the world market.”

All the other industry players are anticipated to follow this week’s price reduction trend – with market forces being one of the biggest factors pulling prices up and down in the deregulated domestic oil market.

But as the international market still tips on a wild ride, it remains to be seen for heavy import-dependent countries like the Philippines if this is just a phase of “a calm before another market storm.”

The Dubai crude, which is largely touted as the Asian oil market’s benchmark closed on Friday (June 8) trading at US$73 per barrel level, lower than the US$75 per barrel mark it had been swinging at the past week.

But at the opening of this week’s trading, it had gone up anew to US$74.88 per barrel – igniting new round of market jitters on possible uptick in prices again.

The price gyrations in Dubai crude is closely followed by cost movements in the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the index being set by the Philippine oil market for imported finished petroleum products.

From the market edginess that had prompted government to make declaration up to the extent of setting up a strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), the domestic market is still into a ‘tranquil mode’ this time, even the usual adversaries to price hikes, like the public transport sector.

And at the Department of Energy (DOE), SPR planners and policy framers may gain additional window to think out the legal, financial as well as technical paradigm that they shall employ in case they will really take serious steps into the proposed oil importation and subsequently trading them to the independent oil companies.

The energy department has been anticipating oil import shipments from its targeted source as early as this month, but the government admitted also that it has yet to firm up how this commodity could be dangled to consumers.

At the same time, there is also that responsibility on the part of the State to ensure fuel procurements that shall be cost-competitive and up to quality standards so vehicles using them will not be damaged.