Oil firms are shaving another 55 centavos off pump prices for a liter of gasoline and 10 centavos for diesel starting at 6 a.m. today.
As of press time, companies that announced plans to reduce prices included Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Flying V, Seaoil Philippines Inc., Petron Corp., Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc. and Eastern Petroleum Corp.
Shell, Flying V, Seaoil, Unioil and Petron said they were also cutting the prices of kerosene by 20 centavos a liter.
Data from the Department of Energy (DOE) show that in Metro Manila, the latest price changes would mean that the widely patronized gasoline variant—with an octane rating of 95—would range at P41.60 to P48.70 a liter at the pump.
Also, prices of the regular diesel variant would range at P33.45 to P40.43 a liter.
According to the DOE, production of shale in the United States that was driven offline over the past two years was coming back into operation.
This is moderating the price gains being made by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, particularly the agreement reached in December to limit output, it said.
The DOE also cited the smaller than expected rise in US stockpiles, as crude oil inventories rose 600,000 barrels to 518.7 million, 8.9 percent higher year-on-year.