Motorists will just gain slight relief in their pockets this week, as the price of petroleum products will be reduced by very marginal amounts effective Tuesday, Nov. 1.
Oil companies announced that the price of diesel products will be reduced by P0.60 per liter; gasoline products by P0.25 per liter; and kerosene by P0.25 per liter.
As of press time, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Cleanfuel, Seaoil, PetroGazz, Jetti and Chevron already implemented the price cuts, while their competitor-firms are anticipated to follow.
This round of price downtrends followed another rollback last week, but the very minuscule decline in prices at the pumps still ignite disappointment among consumers, especially since they already suffered from heftier price hikes in recent months.
Based on the monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE), price adjustments since the start of the year still posted net increases of P37.40 per liter for diesel; P29.90 per liter for kerosene; and P16.10 per liter for gasoline.
Beyond the commodities retailed at the pumps, the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is anticipated to incur upward adjustment for the month of November – and the industry players will be announcing the cost hikes by Tuesday, Nov. 1.
To date, it remains a struggle among Filipino consumers to understand the cost components being passed on at the pumps because the enforcement of a ‘fuel cost unbundling policy’ was blocked by the oil companies.
Nevertheless, the Marcos administration is bent on supporting the passage of a legislation that will make oil pricing a ‘more transparent scheme’ when the oil firms adjust their prices on a weekly basis.