Fuel products will be on mixed price adjustments next week with gasoline on hefty hike while diesel and kerosene on significant rollback.
Based on the calculations of industry players, the price of 92 RON gasoline will rise by P4.10 to P4.30 per liter while 95 RON gasoline will incur higher adjustments of P4.60 to P4.80 per liter.
For diesel fuel, this is anticipated to go down by P2.40 to P2.60 per liter while kerosene prices will be trimmed by P2.30 to P2.50 per liter.
The oil companies will implement the price adjustments on Tuesday, May 24. The price adjustments are anchored on the cost swings of the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the pricing reference being employed by the domestic downstream oil industry.
As could be gleaned from the monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE), price adjustments since the start of the year still incurred net increases of P21.60 per liter for gasoline; P31.40 per liter for diesel; and P27.65 per liter for kerosene.
Industry experts noted the main factors that triggered new round of turbulence in oil prices had been the $220 billion plan unveiled by the European Union (EU) to end reliance from Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
Nevertheless, market watchers opined that the decision of China to purchase more crude from Russia - primarily to replenish its oil strategic reserve - had provided counterbalance to EU’s targeted jettison from Russian oil.
The deal being hammered out between Russia and China is a government-to-government deal, a move that is seen to offset any market loss that Russian oil would be suffering from with EU’s ditch.
And while global markets have been gauging if Russian oil will have greater pivot into Asia moving forward, international benchmark Brent crude climbed back to the level of $112 per barrel as of Friday, May 20 trading and Dubai crude also inched up to $106 per barrel.
The plan of the United States to enforce tariff on Russian also ignited additional volatilities into oil prices, as that is deemed resulting in higher prices at the pumps.
In the Philippine market, it remains a guessing-game how the incoming administration will handle highly volatile oil prices – not just on its direct impact on the consumers’ pockets but also on its spiraling effect on the economy.