Diesel prices down by P3.40/liter; gasoline by P1.70/liter

by Myrna M. Velasco

Filipino motorists can tick off fuel budget as one less worry for them this week, primarily diesel for public transport, as the price of this commodity will be on a hefty rollback of P3.40 per liter by Tuesday, Dec. 13. 

Additionally, the industry players have reduced the price of gasoline products by P1.70 per liter, while kerosene prices will go down by P4.40 per liter.

As of this writing, five oil firms that already sent notices on their price cuts. These include Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Seaoil, Cleanfuel, PetroGazz and Chevron, while their competitor firms are all expected to follow. 

Players in the domestic deregulated downstream oil industry have been adjusting their prices weekly based on the costs swing of the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), a pricing index anchored on the outcome of petroleum commodities trading in the regional market.

Softer fuel prices in the thick of the traffic-stricken Christmas season will be highly beneficial to the consumers, especially so since most are now trooping to the malls or parties as part of the long holiday celebrations.

As of Monday, Dec. 12 trading, international benchmark Brent crude was roughly steady at $76 per barrel – and there are not much significant geopolitical events being anticipated yet to be exerting pressure on prices in the days ahead. 

Last week, even signals of easing of Covid restrictions in China failed to lift market sentiments, hence, the overall pricing trend for spot-traded fuel commodities tracked downward trajectories.

There were also concerns of delayed oil shipments via Turkish Strait; as well as an oil spill dilemma that halted the operation of a US oil pipeline delivering oil from Canada; but those incidents were not able to ignite rally in prices.

At this stage, there are projections that prices may stay longer in the $75 to $76 per barrel range, unless, major global events would erupt and disturb market fundamentals anew – similar to what happened in the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war in February this year.

For a heavily import-dependent economy like the Philippines, crashing prices come off as a gainful advantage, particularly at this time when Filipino consumers are reeling hard from the whip of soaring prices of basic commodities.

Oil firms announce rollbacks for 2nd time this year

Angelica Y. Yang - Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — Consumers can expect lower fuel prices this week amid hopes of resolving fighting prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and other developments affecting the global oil market, where the Philippines mainly gets its supply from.

This marks the second time this year that fuel prices went down. 

On Monday, two oil firms announced price rollbacks in their fuel products. In an advisory, Seaoil Philippines announced a price reduction for gas by P2.30 per liter, diesel by P1.85 per liter and kerosene at P1.65 per liter, effective Tuesday. 

Another oil company Cleanfuel announced similar adjustments for its diesel and gas products. 

"One reason for the rollback is the positive feedback that the negotiator reported on the possible resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict," Rodela Romero, assistant secretary of the Department of Energy's Oil Industry Management Bureau told Philstar.com in an online exchange on Monday. 

She explained that sentiments and speculations trigger oil price adjustments. 

Romero noted three more reasons for the fuel price decrease this week. These are:

A US move to consider releasing a total of 180 million barrels of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the next six months by May.

 The lockdown in Shanghai in China amid the surge in COVID-19 cases.

Russia's announcement to scale down its military operations in Ukraine.

Gas, diesel and kerosene prices in the Philippines have been increasing since the start of the year due to tight supply, which was partly worsened by the invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this year, the Philippine government announced that it will double its fuel subsidies to P6.1 billion for affected groups such as the transportation and agricultural sectors in a bid to help them cushion the impacts of the oil price hikes. 

Based on data collected from the announcements of oil firms since the start of the year, the price adjustments of oil products are as follows: P16 per liter for gasoline, P26 per liter for diesel and P24.1 per liter for kerosene. 

Diesel prices on rollback by P11.45/liter; gasoline by P5.45 per liter

Filipino motorists can finally heave a sigh of relief after roughly three months in financial squeeze at the pumps as diesel prices will be on rollback by P11.45 per liter and gasoline prices will also be cut by P5.45 per liter.