Motorists should brace for the second straight week of oil price increase, but this time, those loading up diesel should dig deeper in their pockets due to the lingering effects of the tension between Ukraine and Russia.
Based on the oil trading data from Monday to Thursday, an industry source told the Daily Tribune on Saturday that diesel prices are poised to go up by around P5.40 to P5.70 per liter, while gasoline prices are also projected to inch up by around P1.30 to P1.60 per liter.
The source, however, noted that the final price adjustment forecasts are still subject to change as they did not include the oil trading data on Friday.
In a radio interview on Friday, Atty. Rino Abad of the Department of Energy-Oil Industry Management Bureau confirmed the looming oil price hikes, which he attributed to the increasing demand in the world market.
Abad said there is a significant increase in the demand for fuel in the United States and Europe amid the lingering concerns of supply shortage brought by the Russia-Ukraine war.
Being a net importer of oil, the Philippines is directly affected by the volatility in the international market.
Effective last Tuesday, 23 August, oil companies broke the seven-week streak of oil price reduction by increasing diesel prices by P2.60 per liter and gasoline by P0.70 per liter.
According to the DoE, the latest price increase brought the year-to-date total adjustments to stand at a net increase of P31.70 per liter for diesel and P18.15 per liter for gasoline.
Based on the energy department’s oil monitoring data, the prices per liter of gasoline range from P64.85 to P75.95 in Quezon City. In the country’s capital, diesel prices stand at around P70.20 and P75.95 per liter.
Oil companies announce price adjustments every Monday to be implemented on the following day’s morning.
They adjust their prices weekly based on the movement of the Mean of Platts Singapore — the regional pricing benchmark adopted by the deregulated downstream oil sector.