Mixed oil price adjustments on Tuesday

By MYRNA M. VELASCO

There will be mixed bag of adjustments that consumers will experience at the pumps next week with slight increases for gasoline and diesel, while kerosene products may incur marginal rollback, according to industry players.

Based on estimates of the oil companies, gasoline prices will rise by P0.40 to P0.80 per liter; while diesel prices may increase by P0.45 to P0.75 per liter.

In the case of kerosene, which is an essential commodity either for households or key industries like aviation, the oil firms indicated that the price movement could just be a reduction of P0.05 to P0.25 per liter; or the price of this product may not change next week.

The oil firms will implement the price changes at the pumps on Tuesday (January 17) – and such will account for the third round of cost fluctuations for petroleum products since the start of the year.

The pricing reference of the domestic oil companies is Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the index which integrates the outcome of regional trading of petroleum commodities – primarily the flow of finished products within Asian markets.

The price hikes may just stir up negligible squeeze on consumers’ pockets, but this would still cause pain to the marginalized societal segments -- especially the public transport sector; and this will not also help in the surging prices of basic commodities.

Manifestly, as noted by experts, there had been a seesaw in price adjustments – with price upticks reigning in the first week of January; then that was replaced with rollbacks last week.

From the prior week’s plunge to $78 per barrel level, international benchmark Brent crude inched up anew beyond $85 per barrel as of Friday (January 13) trading in the global market; hence, the upward pressure that will be experienced by consumers again at the pumps next week.

According to market watchers, two major factors had largely influenced the swing of international prices last week – this included the improved inflation data of the United States; while the lingering uncertainty on China’s demand provided the counterweight.

Global industry players are still re-assessing multiple elements that could impact oil prices in the weeks and months ahead, but at this point, the price compass is still seen oscillating in any direction.