AT A GLANCE
Filipino consumers will brace for new wave of roller coaster ride of hefty price hikes at the oil pumps next week, with diesel rising by as much as P1.20 to P1.70 per liter, based on the calculation of the oil firms.
For gasoline products, this will also increase by P0.85 to P1.35 per liter; while kerosene prices will go up by P1.20 to P1.60 per liter, according to the estimates of the industry players.
The oil companies will be adjusting their prices on Tuesday (October 24) based on the swing of prices as anchored on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), which is the adopted pricing reference of the country’s deregulated downstream oil sector.
As culled from MOPS-calculated adjustments, the anticipated spike in diesel prices would be P1.203 per liter; gasoline at P0.882 per liter; and kerosene will be P1.241 per liter.
Nevertheless, the final adjustments at the gas pumps may differ because there are other factors affecting price fluctuations – including foreign exchange rate, biofuel costs, market premium as well as the precarious sway of competitive forces in the market.
Prior to this round of cost movements, a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE) has shown that price swings since the start of the year had logged net increases of P12.25 per liter for gasoline; P11.35 per liter for diesel; and P5.94 per liter for kerosene.
As indicated by industry experts, one of the major developments that sent global oil prices on the escalation track had been the announcement of the United States on the replenishment of its strategic petroleum reserve or SPR.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) primarily sounded off plans on buying 6.0 million barrels of crude oil for its SPR that will be up for deliveries within December 2023 to January next year.
The other geopolitical events that impacted world oil prices had been the US enforcement of further sanctions on Iran; while a counterweight to that had been the easing of sanctions on Venezuela.
Of the colliding factors, however, the end game for prices in the world market still tracked uptrend, with international benchmark Brent crude surging past $93 per barrel last week.
Market watchers noted that the lingering Israel-Palestine war may have already started taking its pinch on oil markets, but it remains to be seen how wide it could really influence market fundamentals in the weeks ahead.
For the Philippine market, the rising tide of the black gold will continue to fuel uncertainties not just on the consumers’ pockets, but on the overall wellbeing of the country’s economy.
