Filipino consumers are in for a tighter financial squeeze this week, as fuel products will be rising anew – and it will be a big-time hike of P1.15 per liter for gasoline products; and P0.60 per liter for diesel.

The other commodity that will have higher prices in the triumvirate of product cost movements will be kerosene, which will increase by P0.65 per liter as announced by the oil companies.

As of this writing, the industry players that already sent notices on their upward price adjustments had been Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Seaoil Philippines, Cleanfuel and PetroGazz effective on Tuesday (July 13); while their competitor-firms are anticipated to follow their pricing leads.

This round of substantial climb in prices at petroleum pumps had been mainly attributed to the escalating value of the US dollar versus the Philippine currency which already edged toward the P50 territory as of last week; while higher oil prices had likewise been sustained in the world market.

This is the second time that prices will be increased this month – resulting in an aggregate hike of P1.75 per liter for gasoline products; P0.70 per liter for diesel; and P0.60 per liter for kerosene because of the P0.05 per liter rollback first implemented last week.

The continued ‘overheating’ of the global oil market is partly attributed to the deadlock in the discussions of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its ally-producers (or the OPEC+) relative to proposed relaxation of outputs, so additional supply could be injected into markets.

There is no clear resolution in sight yet how the impasse between the two key OPEC members – Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – will eventually clear up, primarily in reference to their stance on baseline quotas.

Last week’s report on the decline of US inventories also pushed market prices higher, because that portends further pressure on the tightening supply of oil in the world market.

Aside from robust demand for oil commodities in the US, there are also prospects that other economies are now racing into their economic recovery pathways – including Asian countries, and that’s beyond the economic growths already posted by China.

The overall forecast is for oil demand to continuously climb until the end of the year, as more countries will be springing back to higher degree of normalcy -- not just in their economic maneuvers but also in their human activities, including travels.