Diesel, gasoline prices seen to roll back next week

Motorists should expect another sigh of relief as pump prices of petroleum products are expected to roll back in the coming week, local oil industry sources said Friday.

“Based on our four-day monitoring for the international oil market, there will be a rollback on the prices of gasoline and diesel,” Department of Energy-Oil Industry Management Bureau Assistant Director Rodela Romero told GMA News Online.

An oil industry source, likewise, said the price per liter of diesel may go down by P0.40 to P0.60.

Gasoline prices, meanwhile, may be slashed by P1.30 to P1.50 per liter.

“Kerosene might have no adjustment at all or it might have a rollback or an increase, depending on the last trading today,” Romero said.

The Energy official attributed the expected price rollback to the monetary policy tightening in the US as “further [rise] in interest rates could slow growth and curb oil consumption and the fear of stronger dollar will hurt global oil demand…”

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

Effective Tuesday, April 18, fuel firms slashed the price per liter of diesel by P0.40; at the same time, oil companies raised the price of gasoline and kerosene by P0.30 and P0.10, respectively.

The latest price movements brought the year-to-date adjustments to stand at a net decrease for diesel at P2.35 per liter and kerosene at P3.35 per liter. Gasoline has a net increase of P8.95 per liter to date.

Data from the DOE price monitoring from April 11 to 13 showed the price per liter of gasoline range from P58.35 to P69.75 per liter in Quezon City, Metro Manila’s largest city; diesel prices range from P57.53 to P61.83 per liter in Makati City, the country’s top financial hub; while in Philippine capital Manila, kerosene prices range from P68.36 to P72.40 per liter. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News