Motorists will be in massive financial relief next week, as oil prices will be on another round of big-time rollbacks, according to the calculation of oil companies.
Based on industry estimates, the price of gasoline will be trimmed by P1.10 to P1.20 per liter; diesel by P1.20 to P1.30 per liter; and kerosene will also be down by P1.25 to P1.35 per liter.
In the initial two weeks of price rollbacks this month, total reduction in gasoline prices already hovered at P1.90 per liter; P0.60 per liter for diesel; and P0.75 per liter for kerosene products.
The softening of prices in the world market has been due to prospects that more oil will be pumped into market, primarily from the strategic reserves of the United States and China.
In addition, a targeted action to help bring down world oil prices was strategically discussed at the virtual summit this week of US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. This is seen as the single biggest factor that pulled down international prices for fuel commodities this week.
This is already the third week of successive price rollbacks this November after more than two months of tormenting price hikes.
For the Philippines, which is heavily dependent on oil imports, the upticks in global oil prices had been financially painful not just to individual consumers but on the country’s overall economic fundamentals.
This prompted calls for the government to extend subsidies to the highly critical sectors, such as public transport. There were also recommendations to temporarily suspend the imposition of excise taxes on oil products.
Now, with the prices of oil already tracking downtrend, this is treated as a major positive development, especially for Filipinos who will have other spending priorities with the forthcoming Christmas holidays.
Overall though, a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE) showed that adjustments since the start of the year still incurred net increases of P20.05 per liter for gasoline; diesel at P17.50 per liter; and kerosene at P15.09 per liter. ###