Sixth weekly fuel price rollback in the offing

Oil companies are lowering pump prices of petroleum products for the sixth straight week next Tuesday, according to the Department of Energy.

The department on Friday noted an oversupply in oil production and inventories are having an impact on oil prices in global markets.

The price per liter of diesel is going down by P0.95, gasoline by P1.30 to P1.35, and kerosene by P0.67 to P0.70, a reliable industry source told GMA News Online.

Early this week, oil companies rolled back the price per liter of diesel by P2.00, gasoline by P2.30, and kerosene by P1.85. 

Prices of gasoline have gone down by a total of P5.55 and diesel by P3.10 since October 15.

Data from the Department of Energy (DOE) showed the prices per liter of diesel now range from P43.55 to P52.19, gasoline from P47.65 to P62.15, and kerosene from P48.77 to P58.85.

Oil companies usually adjust their pump prices every Tuesday.

The DOE cited the following reasons for next week’s rollback:

• higher crude inventories for eight straight weeks, adding 10.27 million barrels in the week ending November 9 to 442.05 million barrels, based on US-Energy Information Agency (EIA) data

• average shale oil production of 7.944 million barrels per day (b/d) in December, up an estimated 113,000 b/d in November and 1.63 million b/d in December 2017

• US sanctions vs. Iran’s oil customers went back into force November 5, with Iraq receiving relief for electricity imports and eight other countries including China and India secured permission to keep importing Iranian crude at reduced levels

• ample US gasoline stocks nearly 7 percent above five-year average for this time of year despite larger-than-expected draw in recent weeks

• bearish Asian gasoline market as prices collectively plunged to lowest this year on Wednesday, pressured by weak fundamentals and cued by falling crude prices

The Duterte administration is temporarily suspending the fuel excise tax increase scheduled next year under its tax reform program to ease inflationary pressures from higher oil prices in world markets and food supply constraints. —VDS, GMA News