Motorists using gasoline products will benefit more in this week’s price rollback, as the per-liter cost of this commodity will be slashed by P1.65 per liter; while diesel prices will be trimmed by P1.25 per liter.
Additionally, the price of kerosene, which is a base fuel for the aviation sector and other key industries, will be reduced by P1.35 per liter.
As of press time, the oil companies that already advised on their price cuts had been Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Seaoil, Cleanfuel, PTT, Eastern Petroleum, PetroGazz and Chevron effective Tuesday (September 27); while their competitors will follow.
The plummet of prices in the world market had been the main trigger for this week’s decline in prices at the domestic pumps, according to the oil companies.
The industry players noted that the expectation for price cuts should have been heftier; but because of the record-level depreciation of the Philippine peso versus the US dollar last week, the final price reductions came out leaner.
As of Monday (September 26) trading, international benchmark Brent crude declined further to $85 per barrel from $86 per barrel last week; but there are no clear signs yet if such pricing trend will carry on for the rest of this week’s trading days.
The series of price downtrends at the domestic pumps had been bringing cheers to the Filipino consumers; especially so since many are now starting to save for their shopping needs during the Christmas season.
Lower fuel prices are also seen beneficial as the economy braces for wider re-opening; hence, this will soften the financial burden of consumers, primarily in their commute or drive to work or other engagements.
Given the deregulated state of the oil industry, the Department of Energy (DOE) has been constantly reminding motorists to exercise their power of choice; as there are gasoline stations that have been selling cheaper products compared to their rival-firms.
The remaining struggle in the industry is the non-transparent way of pricing fuel products -- that the consumers are not even aware what they have been paying for when they fill up their vehicles at the pumps.