Expect big-time spike in fuel prices next week —Unioil

Oil industry player Unioil said Saturday that it expects big-time spikes in the pump prices of fuel by Tuesday next week, confirming what an Energy official said Friday.

In a Facebook post, Unioil said diesel will increase by P3.90 to P4.10 per liter, and gasoline by P3.00 to P3.20.

On Friday, Department of Energy (DOE)-Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad said, “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 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 said 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.

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

However, during the Laging Handa public briefing on Saturday, Abad refused to mention the expected increases in the prices of fuel products.

"May increases po tayong ine-expect, pero hindi ko po masabi ang ilang mga amount kasi ayaw natin sana maimpluwensiyahan ang mga oil companies which will actually provide the notification usually on Monday. Upon receipt ng notification nila, doon lang kami pwedeng makapagsabi para hindi lumabas na nauuna tayo sa pagsasabi ng amount at baka kopyahin na lang po ng mga oil companies yung sinabi natin," Abad said.

(We are expecting [price] increases, but I cannot say the amount because we don't want to influence the oil companies which will actually provide the notification usually on Monday. Upon receipt of their notification, that is when we can mention the amounts so it would not look like we went ahead and the oil companies just copied us.)

Abad also mentioned three factors affecting the supply of fuel products worldwide: the war between Russia and Ukraine, the lockdown in Shanghai, China due to COVID-19 surge, and the possible ban of Russian exports of oil and gas.

To help cushion the impact of the increases in the prices of fuel products, the government has thus provided targeted relief programs in the form of subsidies to the public transport sector and to farmers and fishermen, he added.

Meanwhile, Abad advised motorists to avail of fuel discounts being offered by some gasoline stations.

"Ang Department of Energy at ang oil companies, tuloy-tuloy 'yung programa sa fuel discount. Meron ?1 to as high as ?5 discounts sa mga gasoline stations natin. Pumili sila ng gas station na tuloy-tuloy na nag-offer ng fuel discount. Sayang naman kung hindi ma-avail," he said.

(The Department of Energy and oil companies are continuing the fuel discount program. The discounts range from P1 to as high as P5. Motorists can check which gasoline stations are offering the fuel discounts so they can avail of them.)

Abad also advised motorists to plan their trips and use the fuel subsidies to buy fuel. —LBG/KG, GMA News