The chain of financial distress at the oil pumps will continue for Filipino consumers, as petroleum product prices are anticipated to rise again at the pumps by Tuesday (September 5), according to the oil companies.

Based on the calculation of the industry players, diesel products will increase by P0.85 to P1.25 per liter; while gasoline prices will go up by P0.25 to P0.65 per liter.

Kerosene, a base for aviation fuel and also part of the triumvirate in the weekly oil price adjustments, will incur substantial increase of P0.90 to P1.30 per liter; triggering a market scenario that keeps pushing air travel on the ‘luxury end’ because of the incessant rise in prices.

This is already the 9th week in series of cost escalations being reflected at the domestic pumps since July; and this is a development that has not just been hurting the pockets of consumers but will also have its ripple effect on the inflation rate as well as on the Philippine economy in general.

The new round of price hikes is still anchored on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) index, which serves as the pricing barometer for fuel products being traded in the Asian region.

Prior to the forthcoming round of price adjustments, a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE) has shown that prices since the start of the year already logged aggregate increases of P14.80 per liter for gasoline; P9.50 per liter for diesel; and P6.64 per liter for kerosene products.

According to global experts, prices were on continued rally in last week’s trading because of the oil inventory decline of the United States market that had been reckoned at 1.0 million barrels per day.

That development was compounded by market anticipations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its ally-producers (collectively known as OPEC+) will be extending production cuts and will also continuously curb commodity exports.

Reports of bullish recovery in the manufacturing sector of China further aggravated price rally pressures, thus, there are already forward projections that price increases will continue to be the trend in the weeks and months ahead.

Overall, the forward prognosis of tight supply precipitated new surge in oil prices in the world market, with international benchmark Brent crude escalating above $88 per barrel anew as of Friday (September 1) trading.

Being a heavily import-dependent market, added cost squeeze will be felt at Philippine gas pumps due to the fresh wave of depreciation in the Philippine peso’s value versus the US dollar; therefore, that will add up to the cost adjustments being passed on by the oil firms.