At A Glance
- It has been manifest that the price reductions enforced by the oil companies had been lower than MOPS-based calculations, but the industry players noted that such was due to the market premium as well as the depreciation of the Philippine peso's value versus the US dollar.
The prices of diesel and gasoline products will be trimmed by P0.20 per liter this week, according to the pricing adjustment advisories of the oil companies.
The industry players similarly announced that the price of kerosene products will be on rollback by a heftier P0.50 per liter.
All price reductions will be effective Tuesday (September 26) and these are anchored on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) index, based on the outcome of trading in the regional market last week.
As of press time, the oil firms that already advised on their price cuts had been Shell Pilipinas Corporation, Seaoil, Cleanfuel, PetroGazz, Jetti Petroleum and Chevron; while their rival oil-firms are all anticipated to follow.
It has been manifest that the price reductions enforced by the oil companies had been lower than MOPS-based calculations, but the industry players noted that such was due to the market premium as well as the depreciation of the Philippine peso’s value versus the US dollar.
This is the first time that prices at the domestic pumps will be on downswing since cost movements have been ticking up in the past 11 weeks.
According to global experts, prices in the world market had been partly tamed last week when the US Federal Reserve set a tone for longer enforcement of interest rate hikes; which then affected sentiments in oil markets.
Nevertheless, the downtrend in prices had been immediately countered by the decision of Russia to temporarily ban export of its diesel and gasoline products to most energy markets around the world; and that consequently drove prices back to $93-$94 per barrel by end-week trading.
As of Monday (September 25) trading, prices still portend probable climb in the days ahead, although spot prices were still at the level of $93 per barrel.
For the Philippine market, any prospective new round of price hikes will trigger escalated anguish on the part of consumers – including businesses that will need to shell out additional cost not just for their fleets, but also for the oil-leaning component of their manufacturing processes.