The pockets of consumers will be eased significantly from the hefty rollback in pump prices this week which reached a scale of P3.05 per liter for gasoline; and P2.45 per liter for diesel products as announced by the oil companies.

For kerosene, which is the other vital commodity in the triumvirate of weekly price adjustments, will also be trimmed by a substantial P3.00 per liter, according to the pricing advisories of the industry players.

As of this writing, the oil firms that already sent notices on their price rollbacks effective Tuesday, Oct. 10, had been Shell Pilipinas Corp., Seaoil, Cleanfuel, PetroGazz and Chevron; while their competitor-firms are all expected to follow the pricing trends in the industry this week.

The price reduction had been generally anchored on the outcome of trading in the regional market that had been referenced on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), although market forces also play a significant role in the final price adjustments being enforced at the pumps.

This episode of downswing in domestic oil prices was mainly triggered by the crash in global prices – with international benchmark Brent crude plummeting by $10 per barrel to the level of $84 per barrel in last week’s trading.

For the Philippine market, this will be the third week that prices have been tracking downtrend after roughly three months of price spikes that really proved punishing not just in the wallets and paychecks of Filipino consumers, but also in the country’s economy in general.

To note, the escalation in the country’s inflation rate last month had been partly attributed to the incessant rise in fuel prices that persisted from July to September.

At this stage, there is no certainty yet that the nosedive in world oil prices will be sustained in the weeks ahead, although global experts have been indicating that the feared $100 per barrel may already be out of the equation.

As of Monday, Oct. 9, trading, international oil prices substantially climbed again by roughly $3.00 per barrel level to $87 per barrel, but industry watchers cannot give tangible prognosis yet if this will be sustained for the rest of the week.

If the uptick in global oil prices would continue, there will be high probability that prices will be on another round of increases by next week.

For an oil import-dependent economy like the Philippines, it is left with no choice but to ride the wave of weekly fluctuations in global oil prices that are mainly dictated by geopolitical forces as well as developments in various markets all over the world.