Some of the country’s oil companies have increased their gasoline prices by P0.15 per liter – instead of enforcing a rollback, mainly because they maximized cost recovery of ethanol price adjustments as a blend to that fuel commodity.
For diesel products, prices have likewise been increased by P0.25 per liter; while kerosene prices were cut by P0.15 per liter, according to the pricing advisories sent by the oil companies.
If purely based on cost movements anchored on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), gasoline prices should have been rolled back by P0.15 per liter this week; but for a number of oil firms, they opted to pass on the higher cost of ethanol in this round of price swings.
The oil companies -- like Chevron (which carries the Caltex brand) and Seaoil -- had reflected adjustments of P0.15 per liter; while independent players PetroGazz and Cleanfuel have not imposed cost changes on their gasoline fuels being retailed at the pumps.
French firm Total, for its part, has imposed even higher adjustment of P0.20 per liter for gasoline products; and P0.35 per liter for diesel fuel. The oil industry players announced that their price adjustments will be effective Tuesday (May 25); and their competitor-firms are all anticipated to follow.