As the initial downtrend in global oil prices did not last long, Filipino motorists will have another financially punishing drive next week as oil prices are anticipated to rise again by significant amounts, based on the calculation of the industry players.
According to the oil companies, the price of RON92 gasoline will increase by P1.05 to P1.15 per liter and RON95 gasoline by P0.80 to P0.90 per liter; while diesel prices will climb by P0.85 to P0.95 per liter.
Kerosene, which is the other main fuel commodity in the weekly price adjustments, will go up by P0.55 to P0.65 per liter at the domestic pumps next week.
The oil firms will adjust their prices on Tuesday, Feb. 15, and will be anchored on cost swings of the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) indices -- and this will already be the 7th series in an unbroken string of astronomical rise in prices since the start of the year.
Prior to the forthcoming round of price hikes, a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE) showed that fuel products already logged net increases of P5.70 per liter for gasoline; P7.95 per liter for diesel; and P7.20 per liter for kerosene products.
Given the incessant escalation in prices, consumers are already agitated at the sight of gasoline products hovering above P70 per liter at retail stations; while diesel products have been incurring parallel astronomical rise at the range of P52 toP56 per liter – hence, that has been prompting the public transport sector to demand already for fare hikes.
In early trading days last week, global oil prices dived to the level of $90 per barrel on prospects of a breakthrough nuclear deal with Iran.
But the spot trading price reprieve was short-lived because of the lingering supply worries, primarily on the capacity that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could pump into markets, hence, international benchmark Brent crude inched back close to US$93 per barrel by end of week trading.
Apart from skyrocketing world oil prices, the depreciating value of the Philippine peso versus the US dollar has also been exerting added pressure into the weekly price surges at the domestic pumps.
At this stage, the DOE indicated that it will opt for ‘targeted subsidy’ or financial support to critical sectors; while it also pushes for the six-month excise tax suspension for petroleum products, which is a policy amendment to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act currently deliberated in Congress. ###