Oil firms jack up pump prices

Pump prices of petroleum products went up today (Tuesday) after three straight weeks of decline as the global glut was deemed to have been easing.

Local oil firms raised prices as early as midnight of Tuesday, with the price of gasoline rising by 30 centavos per liter.

There were no changes in the pump prices of diesel and kerosene.

As of press time, companies that gave notice of price hikes included Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Flying V, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc., Eastern Petroleum Corp., and PTT Philippines Corp.

The latest price adjustments brought prices of gasoline in Metro Manila to the range of P39.15 to P50.30 a liter at the pump.

Monitoring by the Department of Energy (DOE) showed that the oversupply of oil in the global market was easing.

But the DOE said a tighter gasoline market was expected in the coming months due partly to the reduction in China’s gasoline exports.

“As for demand, the Middle East continued to pull Indian exports, reducing cargoes of gasoline to Asia,” the DOE said.