It will be mixed emotions for motorists at the pumps next week, as the rollback in diesel may bring cheers to some consumers, but those filling up their vehicles with gasoline will experience pinch on their pockets as the price of this commodity is anticipated to rise.

Based on the calculation of the oil companies, the price of diesel will be trimmed by P0.90 to P1.30 per liter; while kerosene will also be reduced by P0.65 to P1.05 per liter.

Conversely, the price of gasoline will have an increase of P0.35 to P0.75 per liter, as gleaned from the estimates of the industry players.

The oil firms will adjust their prices on Tuesday (October 17); and that will already be the 41st week of price fluctuations that Filipino consumers will be wading through in their routine drive to the gasoline stations.

The cost movements will still be anchored on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), which is the pricing reference being applied in the country’s deregulated downstream oil industry.

It could be culled from the MOPS-hinged calculations that the estimated price rollback for diesel would P1.232 per liter and kerosene at P0.954 per liter; while the hike for gasoline products will be P0.382 per liter.

Nevertheless, the actual price adjustments at the local pumps will still be influenced by other factors, such as those on market premium, biofuel costs, foreign exchange (forex) rate and the strong sway of competitive market forces.

Prior to this round of price adjustments, a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE) has shown that prices since the start of the year still logged net increases of P12.25 per liter for gasoline; P11.35 per liter for diesel; and P5.94 per liter for kerosene.

According to global experts, prices initially soared last week following the explosion of the Israel-Palestine war in Gaza as many investors resorted to bonds sell off, but the impact had been muted in the succeeding days on assumption that the territories on standoff are not major oil producers for the world market.

However, as of end-week trading on Friday (October 13), prices were on significant climb again and flirted at the level of $90-$91 per barrel for international benchmark Brent crude, on pronouncements of the Biden administration for possible enforcement of more sanctions against Russia, then on Iran as linked to the ongoing Israel-Palestine skirmish.

Market watchers noted though that the compass may still swing in either direction next week, since there are other factors that have been shaking up trading outcomes in global oil markets – including the inventory buildup of the US, which is the world’s biggest oil consumer.