Motorists filling up their vehicles with diesel will gain very slight relief in their fuel budgets this week as the price of this commodity will be reduced by a very marginal P0.20 per liter, according to the pricing adjustment advisories of the oil companies.

Conversely, the price of gasoline products will climb by P0.95 per liter, due to higher demand of this fuel in the regional market, as anchored on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) index.

For kerosene products, there would also be an increase of P0.50 per liter, as the spike in air travel during the Christmas holiday season had jacked up demand for this particular commodity which is used as a raw material for aviation fuel.

As of press time, the oil companies that already announced their price adjustments had been Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Cleanfuel, Seaoil, PetroGazz and Chevron effective Tuesday (December 27); while their competitor-firms are all anticipated to match their pricing trends.

In the Asian market, experts noted that the main factor which softened diesel prices had been the fresh round of demand decline in China due to the continuing surge of their coronavirus infections, which topped 37 million prior to Christmas day.

Nevertheless, there had been tightening of supply that is expected exerting pressure on markets in the days ahead following the strike of winter storm which pummeled many parts of the United States.

That single biggest development triggered the price of international benchmark Brent crude to swing back to $83 to $84 per barrel over the weekend; a substantial jump from the $75-$76 plunge that oil prices sustained in prior weeks.

In the coming year, market watchers are forecasting sustained volatile prices that will hammer oil markets once again – and the key factors being monitored are the impact of the threatening global economic recession; and the monetary policies that will be enforced by the central banks of major economies.

For the Philippine market, its heavy reliance on importation of fuel products will directly make a dent on the Filipino consumers’ pockets, especially when prices at the pumps will be on sustained rally.

It remains to be seen also how the country’s lawmakers will be tackling the proposed "fuel cost unbundling policy", so the consumers can be properly apprised of the cost-components they have been paying for at the pumps on a weekly basis.