Filipino consumers are bracing for another week of added financial burden at petroleum pumps as the price of gasoline products will rise anew by P0.80 per liter; while diesel prices will go up by P0.65 per liter.
Kerosene products, the base for aviaton fuel will also increase by P0.45 per liter, based on the pricing adjustment notices sent by the industry players.
As of this writing, the oil companies that already advised on their price hikes effective Tuesday (February 22) had been Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Cleanfuel, PetroGazz, Seaoil, Chevron and PTT Philippines; while the rest of their competitor-firms are anticipated to follow.
This is already the eighth round of price hikes implemented by the oil firms since January -- and aggregate increases already summed up to P8.75 per liter for gasoline; P10.85 per liter for diesel; and P9.55 per liter for kerosene products.
According to a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE), prices of gasoline products in Metro Manila are now hovering between P70 to more than P75 per liter; while diesel prices are in the ranges of P56 to P65 per liter.
Consumers are already complaining incessantly of the never-ending upticks of prices at the domestic pumps, but since the oil market is a deregulated industry, the government noted that it can just extend selected subsidies to critical sectors, primarily the public transport segment.
As of Monday, international benchmark Brent crude was still steady at more than US$92 per barrel; while Dubai crude, which is the reference pricing for Asian markets, had levelled off at US$91 per barrel level.
What remains as major dilemma for the global oil market is the shortage of spare capacity as well as falling inventories of super-power countries – as even Middle East producers led by Saudi Arabia, have not been heeding calls yet for them to inject more oil supply into markets.
The niggling Russia-Ukraine standoff has also been exerting intensified pressure into markets as this could disrupt energy supply into Europe, hence, it could also impact on overall supply-demand fundamentals for oil and gas globally.
The other aggravating factors are geopolitical incidents, such as feared infighting in Libya as well as the mounting pressure for Mexico to pursue reforms in its power sector.