Diesel price seen to roll back next week, gasoline expected to go up

Motorists should expect mixed movements in pump prices of petroleum products in the coming week, local oil industry sources said Friday.

Citing oil trading in the past four days, an oil industry source told GMA News Online that the price per liter of diesel may roll back by P0.30 to P0.50.

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

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad said that there is a “suspected very tight movement” in pump prices.

"Itong gasoline and kerosene posibleng may increase hindi lalagpas ng P1 [For gasoline and kerosene, there’s a possible increase of not more than P1],” Abad said.

"Ang diesel, posibleng may decrease na hindi lalagpas ng P1 [For diesel, there’s a possible decrease of not over P1],” he added.

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

Effective last Tuesday, December 20, fuel firms implemented a per liter price hike in gasoline by P0.70, diesel by P2.90, and kerosene by P1.65.

The latest movements brought the year-to-date total adjustments to stand at a net increase of P13.95 per liter for gasoline, P27.50 per liter for diesel, and P20.80 per liter for kerosene.

Data from the Department of Energy’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.  —KBK, GMA Integrated News