Fuel price hike looms next week

After four straight weeks of rollbacks, motorists should brace for an increase in the pump prices of petroleum products in the coming week, local oil industry sources  said Friday.

Citing oil trading in the past four days (December 12 to 15), an oil industry source told GMA News Online that the price per liter may increase by P1.40 to P1.60.

Gasoline prices, meanwhile, may go up by P0.10 to P0.30 per liter.

“Mayroon tayong nakikitang bahagyang pagtaas (We are seeing a slight increase),” Department of Energy-Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

Noting that the projected price adjustments are subject to change depending on Friday’s (December 16) trading, Abad said that the price hike for gasoline will not be over P0.50 per liter, while the adjustment for diesel may be over P1 per liter.

He said, for kerosene, the price hike may reach P1 per liter.

The DOE official cited the recovery of oil demand in China, following the Asian superpower’s COVID-19 economic reopening as the reason for the expected price increase next week.

Oil companies usually announce price adjustments every Monday, to be implemented on the following day.

Effective Tuesday, December 13, fuel firms implemented a per liter price reduction in gasoline by P1.70, diesel by P3.40, and kerosene by P4.40. 

The latest price adjustment brought the year-to-date adjustment to stand at a net increase of P13.25 per liter for gasoline, P24.60 per liter for diesel, and P19.15 per liter for kerosene.

Data from the DOE’s price monitoring, as of December 15, showed the price per liter of gasoline range from P57 to P66.15 per liter in Quezon City, Metro Manila’s largest city; diesel prices range from P64.08 to P67.19 per liter in Makati City, the country’s top financial hub; while in Philippine capital Manila, kerosene prices range from P69.66 to P78.50 per liter. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News