It will be another week that will be heavy on consumers’ pockets as the prices of gasoline products will go up by P1.20 per liter; and diesel by P0.95 per liter, based on the pricing adjustment notices sent by the oil companies.

Kerosene, which is the other significant fuel commodity for both household consumers and other key industries, will also increase by P1.00 per liter this week.

As of this writing, the oil firms that already advised on their price adjustments had been Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Seaoil, Cleanfuel, PetroGazz, Chevron and PTT Philippines effective Tuesday (February 23); while their competitor-firms are anticipated to follow this week’s pricing trend.

The upswing in prices in the world market last week had been mainly traced to forecasts of supply tightening globally, given the economic recovery already manifesting in many countries around the world.

With the accelerated pace of rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, many economies are now prepping for wider re-opening as well as possible return to higher degree of normalcy in the coming months.

As culled from recent assessments of experts, demand for oil is expected to climb significantly in the second quarter as more and more countries pick up speed on the inoculation of their respective populations against Covid-19.

Even the International Energy Agency (IEA) had adjusted its forecasts, with it seeing demand growth by 5.4 million barrels this year, which is completely a reverse of the slump experienced last year.

Nevertheless, a recent report by Platts Analytics prompts for caution, indicating that the recent uptrend in prices may not last long and the market may still be on ‘downward correction of prices’ in the coming weeks or months.

In the Asian market, a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE), pointed to probable “tightening over the next few months as upcoming refinery maintenance operators may opt for earlier and longer turnarounds due to the depressed margins.”

In the Philippines, its only refinery (owned by Petron Corporation) is also scheduled to go on shutdown for four months, starting this February; and even its longer-term existence hovers in a cloud of uncertainty due to inequitable taxation concerns.