Diesel, kerosene up anew as Trump threatens tariffs on Europe

 

Dominique Nicole Flores - Philstar.com

September 29, 2025 | 10:44am

MANILA, Philippines — Escalating tensions in oil-producing nations are driving another round of fuel price hikes, with diesel and kerosene set to rise for the sixth week in a row.

Oil firms are set to increase on Tuesday, September 30, diesel and kerosene prices by P0.90 per liter, while cutting back on gasoline prices by P0.20 per liter. 

Shell Pilipinas, Seaoil and CleanFuel announced the mixed price adjustments on Monday, September 29.

This development comes after US President Donald Trump renewed his threat to impose another round of heavy tariffs on European nations if they continue buying oil from Russia.

In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, Trump accused European countries of “funding the war” against themselves by relying on Russian energy, even as Moscow recently launched drones into Polish airspace.

Trump has also been trying to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. He previously spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about a potential ceasefire but later shifted focus to pursuing a peace deal, which is expected to be a long negotiation.

Recently, however, the European Union proposed banning imports of liquefied natural gas from Russia and sanctioning shadow fleet vessels, as Moscow pressed on with its attacks against Ukraine, which has struck back by targeting Russian refineries.

The Department of Energy (DOE), however, said the resumption of Iraq’s oil exports has slightly eased the upward pressure on fuel prices.

Last week, gasoline and kerosene prices rose by P1 per liter, while diesel increased by P0.80 per liter. 

According to DOE’s monitoring, common and prevailing retail prices of petroleum products in Metro Manila from September 23 to 29 were:

Gasoline (RON97/100) - P67.97

Gasoline (RON95) - P59.60

Gasoline (RON91) - P56.50

Diesel - P56.90

Diesel Plus - P56.00

Kerosene - P77.11

Some stations, however, charge above the prevailing retail rates, with gasoline priced as high as P78.10 per liter, diesel at P71.43, and kerosene at P89.39.

With this week’s mixed price adjustments, year-to-date increases have hit record highs at P17.05 per liter for diesel and P5.45 per liter for kerosene, while gasoline has posted P14.70 per liter.

0.70/liter price cut for gasoline, diesel

BY MYRNA M. VELASCO

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Motorists will gain financial relief at the pumps this week as the price of gasoline and diesel products will be on rollback by P0.70 per liter, based on the pricing adjustment advisories of the oil companies.

For kerosene products, the industry players similarly announced price cuts of P0.85 per liter and that had been anchored on the movement of prices in the world market.

As of this writing, the oil firms that already sent notices on their price reductions effective Tuesday (July 4) had been Shell Pilipinas Corporation, Seaoil, Cleanfuel, Chevron, Jetti and PetroGazz; while their competitor-firms are anticipated to follow.

Prior to this round of adjustment, domestic petroleum prices since the start of the year logged net decrease of P3.00 per liter for diesel and P5.15 per liter for kerosene; while gasoline prices had a net increase of P6.55 per liter.

The cost adjustments at the domestic pumps had been referenced on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the pricing barometer adopted by the deregulated downstream oil industry.

Prices in the world market had been on downtrend last week, on lack on factors that could lift market sentiments versus portended global economic growth slowdown.

While mammoth oil consumer United States had reported decline on inventory, that did not come as enough succor to any upward price pressures on traded oil commodities last week.

As of Monday (July 3), spot trading prices for international benchmark Brent crude had been hovering at $75 per barrel scale, barely moving from its level last week.

Nevertheless, global oil markets have been looking forward to any potential declaration that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may be coming up on their International Seminar that is slated this July 5-6.

There is no clear direction yet how prices would swing this week, but market watchers have not been expecting major developments that could jolt oil market fundamentals in the days ahead.