As global oil prices plunge, Filipino consumers can expect hefty price rollback across fuel commodities next week.

Based on the calculation of the industry players, the price of diesel will be trimmed by P3.30 to P3.60 per liter, while gasoline prices will go down by P1.80 to P2.10 per liter. d heating needs of some countries for the winter, the price reduction had been estimated at a significant P4.10 to P4.40 per liter.

For kerosene, which is an essential fuel for the aviation industry as well as for household cooking an

Domestic oil firms will implement the price cuts by Tuesday, Dec. 13, based on the swing of trading prices in the regional market as referenced on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) index.

The continued decline of prices at the domestic pumps has been beneficial to the Christmas-loving Filipinos because that will substantially slash their fuel budgets; hence at this point, the traffic mess in almost all roads is now very apparent as many have been catching up with friends, colleagues and relatives for parties and other get-together events.

Despite the series of price downtrends since the latter part of October though, a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE) showed that price adjustments from the start of the year still posted net increases for all products retailed at the pumps.

In the international market, benchmark Brent crude nosedived to as low as $76 per barrel as of Friday, Dec. 9 trading, substantially lower than from its retreat to $81 per barrel in the prior week. The Dubai crude, which is the reference pricing for Asian markets, also collapsed to the $73 per barrel level.

As noted by industry experts, oil markets basically shrugged off the series of events signaling possible uptick in demand, that’s why the sagging prices had not been lifted.

The factors closely monitored last week had been the continued changes in the Covid restrictions policy of China; the capping of Russian oil by the European Union-member countries; as well as the oil spill in the US, which halted operations of its pipeline delivering oil from Canada.

There were also reports of massive queue of tankers that cannot pass through the Turkish Straits, delaying export of fuel commodities across markets.