By Myrna Velasco
It will be a reverse track for pump prices of petroleum products this week, as consumers will finally experience slight price cuts relief – with the anticipated rollback of P0.30 to P0.40 for diesel; but will be very marginal reduction of about P0.10 per liter for gasoline.
The past weeks were generally punishing in the pockets of Filipino consumers because they were encumbered with relentless price spikes that already reached an aggregate P8.99 per liter for gasoline; and P6.99 per liter for diesel.
(ALVIN KASIBAN / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
But with the minimal softening of prices in the world market last week, cost swings at the Philippine pumps will also be on downward cycle this coming week.
Prior to this round of adjustment, gasoline prices in Metro Manila were at the average ranges of P48.60 to P62.54 per liter; diesel at P40.40 to P49.05 per liter.
For kerosene, which is another vital commodity in Filipino households, prices have been at the scale of P45.40 to P55.20 per liter, based on the monitoring of the Department of Energy.
For leading oil firm Petron Corporation, gasoline products are currently being retailed at its pumps for P50.29 to P62.54 per liter depending on the station and the classification of the gasoline product being purchased by a customer.
The oil company’s diesel products are priced at P42.47 to P47.39 per liter; and kerosene at P45.67 to P53.81 per liter.
Another major player Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation is currently retailing gasoline products at P50.19 to P60.31 per liter; diesel at P41.40 to P49.05 per liter; and kerosene at P50.02 to P51.79 per liter.
The DoE keeps on reminding consumers to exercise their power of choice when filling up at gasoline stations because there are retail networks selling at relatively lower prices.
The energy department generally scoffs at its observation that the industry’s major players often have higher prices at their pumps; and many of the independent players are offering petroleum products at lower prices.
When asked on a possible factor of smuggling that some players may have been committing, the DoE stipulated “then the customer has to decide whether he is an end-user when he goes to the gasoline station or if he is from the Bureau of Customs.”
Oil prices in the world market were generally on downtrend in the past trading days, but at close to weekend they climbed back due to mounting geopolitical factors, hence, manifesting fresh round of price hikes next.