Hefty fuel price increase seen

A tricycle driver searches his pocket for bills and coins to pay for fuel at a gasoline station on E. Rodriguez Avenue in Quezon City. (File photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Motorists may want to fill up their gas tanks this weekend as industry stakeholders warned of a hefty fuel price adjustment next week.

According to an industry source, the price of diesel may surge by P6.30 to P6.60 per liter and gasoline by P2.50 to P2.80 per liter.

Unioil, in an advisory, said the cost of diesel may rise by P6.30 to P6.50 per liter and gasoline by P2.50 to P2.70 per liter.

There are “three prevailing events on supply pressure this week, which continue to push price increase,” Rino Abad, director of the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau, said in a Viber message.

Among the reasons cited include the start of increasing demand for northern hemisphere countries due to the summer peak period from June to September.

Abad said the European Union’s ban on Russian oil imports contributed to the upward pressure on crude prices.

Earlier, EU leaders agreed to slash oil imports from Russia by around 90 percent over the next six months on the back of worsening Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At present, Russia accounts for 27 percent of the bloc’s imported oil. Abad also said the easing of lockdown in China, projected to increase the oil demand, also pushed pump prices higher.

Demand rising

Shanghai is slowly going back to normalcy as restrictions have been relaxed following the imposition of a two-month lockdown to curb the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

The estimated fuel price hike for next week might be one of the heftiest adjustments imposed by oil companies this year.

So far, the highest price increase for 2022 was implemented on March 29 when the price of diesel climbed by P13.15 per liter, gasoline by P7.10 per liter, and kerosene by P10.50 per liter.

Oil companies last increased the price of gasoline on May 24 when it increased by P4 to P4.30 per liter.

Oil companies announce upward or downward adjustments in fuel prices every Monday, which are then implemented the following day.

Freight and shipping costs are among the factors taken into consideration in the local pricing of pump products.

The country’s oil industry refers to the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) in determining the price of finished petroleum products. MOPS is the regional pricing benchmark for refined oil products.

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