Oil prices up slightly

OIL companies are set to raise pump prices slightly this week as expectations of oversupply tamed price speculation arising from disturbances in the Middle East, sources said.

From 6 a.m. Tuesday, Eastern Petroleum is increasing pump prices by 10 centavos per liter of diesel and 30 centavos per liter of gasoline.

Other companies may implement increases of 15 centavos for diesel and 35 centavos for gasoline, sources said.

Petron, Shell, Chevron, Seaoil, Phoenix Petroleum, and other oil firms have not made formal announcements as of this posting but are expected to implement similar price hikes since most of the country’s fuel for retail is imported.

Including this week’s adjustments, prices of gasoline have grown by as much as P4.37 per liter while that of diesel increased by as much as P1.19 per liter since January 2015.

Fighting in Iraq and Yemen supported price hikes but reports that oil exporting countries would not cut output tamed gains.

Expectations of growing U.S. shale oil output also watered down price pressures.

For the most part, analysts said oil markets remained oversupplied and this situation would only worsen as oil exporting countries stand their ground on maintaining production instead of tinkering with market trends via output curbs.

Benchmark crude oil is seen to stabilize around the $63 to $70 per barrel range, which is close to the level it was in around mid-year last year, when oil prices were dropping steadily. SFM