Oil prices cut after 9 weeks

UP AND DOWNPrices at a gasoline station in Manila reflect levels on Sept. 11. —EARVIN PERIAS

Oil firms on Saturday cut pump prices of diesel by as much as 65 centavos per liter and of gasoline by 85 centavos per liter, ending a nine-week rally that raised prices by a total of as much as P5.60 a liter.

Phoenix Petroleum was first to move, adjusting pump rates by 60 centavos per liter of diesel and 80 centavos per liter of gasoline past midnight on Saturday.

Seaoil Philippines Inc. reduced prices of diesel by 65 centavos per liter, gasoline by 85 centavos per liter and kerosene by 20 centavos per liter.

Petron, Shell, Total, PTT and Eastern said they would implement the same reductions as Seaoil’s starting 6 a.m. of Oct. 15.

Other industry players were expected to follow suit.

In the last nine weeks, oil firms raised prices of diesel week after week, a series that summed up to P5.60 per liter.

Gasoline prices also went up for seven consecutive weeks for a total of P5.05 per liter as did kerosene for a total of P4.85 per liter.

The rally was driven by a continued rise in crude oil prices, with the Brent benchmark breaking the $86 per barrel level and Asian bellwether Dubai crude breaching $84 last Oct. 3.

But crude prices have eased since then, with both Brent and Dubai approaching $80 per barrel as of Oct. 11.

Analysts attributed the respite to a huge buildup in crude stocks in the United States.

Based on monitoring by the Department of Energy, prices of diesel in Metro Manila currently range between P46.40 to P51.19 a liter.

A liter of gasoline with octane rating of 95 is now in the range of P53.20 to P63.42 while a liter of kerosene is now at P50.97 to P61.10.

So far this year, prices of diesel have gone down 12 times but have gone up 29 times, resulting in a net increase of P14.30 per liter.

Also, prices of gasoline have gone down 11 times but have gone up 30 times for a net increase of P13.52 per liter.