The relentless rise in fuel prices will continue this week for all fuel products, including that of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is the preferred commodity by most Filipino households for cooking.
As advised by the oil companies, gasoline prices will increase by P1.00 per liter in this round of adjustment; while diesel prices will be higher by P0.85 per liter.
Additionally, the price of kerosene products will climb by P0.70 per liter this week; while LPG prices had been jacked up by P0.65 per kilogram starting March 1 (Monday).
As of this writing, the oil companies that already sent notices on their price hikes include Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Seaoil, Cleanfuel, PetroGazz , Chevron and PTT Philippines effective on Tuesday (March 2), with expectations that all of their rival-firms will be following this week’s price trends.
For LPG, it was Isla Petroleum and Gas Corporation that already advised on price hike for its Solane LPG brand; while its industry-competitors are anticipated to follow.
Prices at the retail pumps for gasoline, diesel and kerosene move on a weekly basis as anchored on cost swings of the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS); while for LPG, the price movement is every start of the month based on the fluctuation of international LPG contract prices as benchmarked with Saudi Aramco’s pricing.
Confluence of factors had been triggering rise in global prices in the past weeks – including severe state of winter season in some countries, the acceleration of vaccine rollout in many parts of the world; and forecasts of further economic rebound globally.
In the coming months, it is anticipated that the scheduled maintenance shutdown of several refineries in the Asian region may exert pressure on available supply in the market, hence, this may stir up fresh round of price escalations.
On the economic front, the Covid-19 inoculation programs already picking up speed in many countries globally will perceptibly hasten economic recoveries and have also been pacing the return to a ‘more normal condition’ when it comes to people’s movement.
Even the Philippines has also started its vaccination program on Monday (March 1), starting with the medical frontliners – and that was a day following the arrival of Sinovac vaccines from China over the weekend.