Petroleum prices are expected to increase again by Tuesday next week, based on the calculation of the oil companies.
According to the industry players, gasoline prices are expected to rise by P0.60 to P0.70 per liter, while diesel and kerosene will potentially go up by P0.65 to P0.75 per liter.
Oil firms are implementing weekly routine adjustment on pump prices and this is often anchored on the outcome of trading in the regional oil market that is referenced on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS).
International oil prices had been on fresh upswing in last week’s trading -- with international benchmark Brent crude climbing to $68 per barrel level; while Dubai crude, which is a pricing reference for Asian markets, topped $66 per barrel.
Before the enforcement of new price hikes next week, a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE) showed that cost movements since January still logged net increases of P7.80 per liter for gasoline; P6.05 per liter for diesel; and P5.30 per liter for kerosene.
On the assessment of global experts, while there had been weakening of demand in Asia because of the severe cases of Covid-19 infections in India, key economies like the United States, China and those in Europe are already recovering well, hence, that has been driving up overall oil demand.
Nevertheless, it is seen that the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to pump in additional supply into market could help soften prices by next month.
As recently reported by Platts, “the group of oil producers is expected to stand by their decision to increase oil supplies in a gradual manner despite key oil importing nations dealing with fresh Covid-19 outbreaks.”
In the Philippines, most of the oil companies are now bouncing back on sales volume and bottom lines if reckoned on first quarter financial results recently disclosed; reversing the demand and income crash that they had suffered from last year. The next development the industry players have been looking forward to for further oil demand uptick would be the enhancement of the Covid-19 vaccination program to propel ‘herd immunity’ state for the country, that in turn, would stimulate the economy to spring back to recovery.