Gasoline, diesel prices up by P0.70/liter this week

Published February 18, 2019, 9:50 AM By Myrna Velasco

https://business.mb.com.ph/2019/02/18/gasoline-diesel-prices-up-by-p0-70liter-this-week/

With Dubai crude inching higher to more than US$64 per barrel and Brent moving past US$66 per barrel, pump prices of gasoline and diesel products will increase by P0.70 per liter starting Tuesday.

The pump price hikes, that will also include an upward adjustment of P0.35 per liter for kerosene, will take effect on Tuesday, February 19, at 6:00 a.m.

This is already the sixth round of increases in fuel prices this year totalling P5.20 per liter for diesel; and P4.10 per liter for gasoline products – not including yet the P2.00 per liter increase in excise taxes that consumers will also have to shoulder this year.

The oil companies that already adjusted their prices include PTT Philippines, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation and PetroGazz while the rest of the industry players are anticipated to follow.

For the gasoline price uptick, the oil companies indicated that it included cost increase they incurred for the 10-percent ethanol they have been blending to the product.

For many international market watchers and experts, there are no clear signs yet that these volatility in oil prices will abate soon – given all the factors that have been exerting pressure on prices.

Global prices were on the upswing primarily during the latter part of last week for a number of factors jolting the markets including the probable heftier-than-expected production cuts that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its Russian-led ally will be enforcing.

The world’s biggest oil producer Saudi Arabia announced recently that it slashed daily output and exports by 500,000 barrels per day – and that was on top of the production cut it committed in the Vienna alliance of OPEC and non-OPEC producers.

The OPEC-NOPEC bloc pledged to impose production cutback of 1.2 million barrels per day, with the OPEC members reducing output and exports by 800,000 per day and the Russia-led producers by 400,000 barrels per day.

With the pressure now on the supply side, it is anticipated by experts that prices will continue to rise in the coming weeks – and this is a development that will weigh down heavily on import-dependent countries like the Philippines.