Oil firms eye more than P2 per liter fuel rollback

Updated November 11, 2018, 12:18 AM By Myrna Velasco
https://business.mb.com.ph/2018/11/10/oil-firms-eye-more-than-p2-per-liter-fuel-rollback/

Pump prices will be rolled back again this week by more than P2 per liter for gasoline products.

This was based on the projections of oil companies, which are also eyeing less than P2 per liter rollback on diesel, and P1.60 to P1.70 per liter price reduction on kerosene.
This will be the fifth week that reductions had been implemented on petroleum prices, owing it generally to the continued downswing in world market prices.

Despite the enforcement of sanctions against Iran last November 4, market analysts noted that prices hit multi-month lows due to confluence of factors – but all pointing to a well-supplied oil market.

In particular, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) reported skyrocketing production of the United States in the week ending on November 2, reaching a scale of
11.6 million barrels per day.

Russia’s production as well as that of Saudi Arabia had also been on record highs – with these markets ramping up production rather than pursuing output cuts at this point.

In last week’s trading, bellwether Dubai crude plunged to the US$69 per barrel level; while Brent crude dropped sharply to the US$70 per barrel mark. WTI (West Texas Intermediate)benchmark of the US market plummeted to as low as US$60 per barrel.

The last weeks had been highly favorable developments for heavy oil importing countries like the Philippines, but it remains to be seen how longer this will last given prognosis that supply crunch may again jolt markets in the coming months.

As the market took a reverse track from the US$80-US$85 per barrel price level it already hit in September, signals are being sent anew that Russia and producers under the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may again cement a deal on the imposition of new production quotas for fresh round of market rebalancing next year.

Just as when world oil producers were already forecasting climb in oil prices to the US$100 per barrel next year, US production came to the rescue and altered the price prognostication of its counterpart-producer markets.