Another big-time fuel price hike seen next week, DOE says

Motorists and the general public may need to brace for another round of big-time hike in pump prices of petroleum products, seen to be imposed next week, an executive of the Department of Energy said Friday.

Interviewed on Dobol B TV, DOE-Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad said, “Kino-confirm po namin ‘yan na may nakaambang pagtaas at medyo malakihan po ang pagtaas next week.”

[We confirm that there is an impending increase in pump prices next week and this is going to be a bit hefty.]

Citing oil trading monitoring in the past four days, based on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), an oil industry source told GMA News Online that the price per liter of diesel may increase by P4.20 to P4.40.

Gasoline prices, on the other hand, may go up by P3.10 to P3.30 per liter.

The projected pump price adjustments are still subject to change depending on the movement on Friday’s trading, according to the oil industry source.

The local oil industry uses MOPS, the daily average of all trading transactions between buyers and sellers of petroleum products as assessed and summarized by Standard and Poor’s Platts.

Abad, meanwhile, confirmed that the expected price adjustment for gasoline would be more than P3 per liter while for diesel it would be an increase of around P3 to P4 per liter.

The Energy official explained that the global crude oil price amounted to $128.11 per barrel as of April 21, compared to $117.45 per barrel as of April 11.

He said that the relaxation of lockdowns in China which increased demand for fuel, the halt in the ongoing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and talks of banning Russian energy exports are the factors causing the volatility in the global oil market.

Fuel firms usually announce price changes every Monday and implement the adjustments on Tuesday.

Effective April 19, Tuesday, fuel firms hiked gasoline by P0.45 per liter and diesel by P1.70 per liter, bringing the year-to-date adjustments to stand at a net increase of P15.45 per liter for gasoline and P27.35 per liter for diesel. —LBG, GMA News