Motorists using diesel in their daily drive to work or other activities will enjoy bigger cuts in their fuel budgets this week, as the price of this commodity will be in rollback by P1.05 per liter, based on the pricing adjustment advisories of the oil companies.
Additionally, the industry players announced that the price of their kerosene products will be slashed by P0.45 per liter at the pumps; while gasoline prices will have a marginal price reduction of P0.10 per liter.
As of this writing, the oil companies that already sent notices on their price reductions had been Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Cleanfuel, Seaoil, PetroGazz, Chevron and PTT Philippines effective Tuesday (August 16); while their competitor-firms are anticipated to follow.
This is already the sixth wave of price cuts that will benefit Filipino oil consumers in more than two months; and it had been their much-needed breather from the series of price hikes that dominated oil markets from February to June this year.
As of Monday (August 15) trading, oil prices in the world market just softened a bit to $97 per barrel for international benchmark Brent crude – and that was just down slightly from $98 per barrel as of Friday (August 12) trading.
Dubai crude, which is the pricing reference for Asian markets, stayed roughly at the same level of $96 per barrel; hence, this is another pricing parameter being closely monitored in the regional market.
For a heavily import-dependent country like the Philippines, there is no certainty yet of an ‘energy secure’ future – especially if the supply concerns in global oil markets will not be resolved in the immediate years.
There had been differing assessments presented by experts as to how demand will shape in the months ahead - especially with the threat of economic recession menacing markets in the short term. Nevertheless, what is certain for the Philippine market will be for it to be continually afflicted with pricing volatilities in the coming months and even years.
The Marcos administration is batting for long-term energy security, but its biggest predicament at this point is enticing investments, so investors with deep pockets will consider investing in oil and gas exploration ventures in the country.
In the past 15-20 years, the Philippines used to have more mammoth multinational oil companies as investors in the domestic petroleum market – even world’s biggest oil producer Saudi Aramco was a previous investor in Petron Corporation; but because of the very fickle investment policies of the country, many of them had been on exodus through the years.
For that confidence to be re-invigorated, the Department of Energy (DOE) is acknowledging that policy fixes have to be pursued; and for the government to institutionalize investment rules and regulations that cannot just be easily altered with every change of administration.