After hefty price increases over the past five weeks, oil firms will concede on Tuesday a reduction of 10 centavos in the prices of diesel and gasoline.
The decrease brings the pump prices of diesel in Metro Manila to between P41.35 and P53.80 a liter, according to the Department of Energy.
So far this year, prices of diesel have gone down 11 times but have gone up 21 times. The result is a net increase of P9.10 a liter.
The biggest weekly price hike for diesel was P1.20 a liter on May 15 and the deepest drop was P1.30 on Feb. 13.
Gasoline with an octane rating of 95 now sells for P49.00 to P60.13 a liter and kerosene, between P45.62 and P56.65 a liter.
The biggest increase in gasoline prices was P1.60 a liter on May 22, while the biggest cut was P1.20 on June 3.
Shell, Seaoil and Flying V also slashed prices of kerosene by 25 centavos a liter.
Opec production up
Kerosene prices have gone down 10 times and gone up 20 times for a net increase of P9.41 a liter.
The largest weekly rise in kerosene prices was P1.15 a liter on Feb. 27 and the biggest cut was P1.25 on July 23.
Pump prices went down amid the rise in output from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).
Opec production went up by 340,000 barrels a day in July, as several members — including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Algeria — raised output, according to S&P Global Platts.
As of this writing, Dubai crude was trading at $68.90 a barrel, down 7 percent from a four-week high of $74.11 a barrel on July 10.
The first to implement the price reductions is Seaoil Philippines at 12:01 a.m.
Following the move at 6 a.m. are Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., PTT Philippines Corp., Total Philippines Corp., Flying V and Phoenix Petroleum Philippines.
Besides the movement of crude prices on the international market, local taxes are affecting fuel prices.
The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act imposed additional taxes of P2.80 a liter on diesel, P2.90 a liter on gasoline and P3.36 a liter on kerosene. —Ronnel W. Domingo