At A Glance
- Market watchers indicated that while prices are still on the soft side due to lingering concerns on uncertain economic growth of major countries in the world, the key development to watch out for is the continuing geopolitical tension in the Middle East.<br>
Consumers can hope for ‘no changes’ at domestic pump prices next week, or there could only be very marginal price adjustments, according to the calculation of the oil companies.
As estimated by the industry players, the price of gasoline will either be unchanged or there will be slight rollback of P0.25 per liter; and it’s the same ‘no price change scenario’ seen for diesel or there will be very marginal rollback of P0.10 per liter.
For kerosene, which is a base product for aviation fuel, prices may also remain steady or there will be very negligible increase of P0.05 per liter.
The oil firms will announce the second round of price adjustments this year by Tuesday (January 9), as anchored on the routine already being employed in the deregulated downstream oil sector through the years.
If reckoned on cost movements indexed on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the calculated price adjustments have been rollback of P0.26 per liter for gasoline and P0.138 per liter for diesel; while there will be minuscule increase of P0.022 per liter for kerosene products.
Next week’s price projections are still considerably favorable in the pockets of consumers – especially those who would be travelling back from the long holiday break – and that’s mainly because they won’t need to cough up massive addition in their fuel budgets.
In the first price adjustment for 2024 that had been implemented last week, consumers were able to enjoy price cuts of P0.10 per liter for gasoline; P0.35 per liter for diesel; and P1.40 per liter for kerosene products.
In the world market, there had been escalation in global oil prices as of Friday (January 5) trading, but that had not been enough to significantly drive up prices, especially in the Asian region.
International benchmark Brent crude so far inched up to $78 per barrel, higher by roughly $1.00 per barrel from $77 per barrel last week.
Market watchers indicated that while prices are still on the soft side due to lingering concerns on uncertain economic growth of major countries in the world, the key development to watch out for is the continuing geopolitical tension in the Middle East.
It was emphasized that the continued attacks of the Houthi militants at the Red Sea, as well as the intensifying friction between Israel and Iran may eventually ignite unprecedented spikes in global oil prices in trading weeks ahead.