Consumers’ pockets will experience slight reprieve this week, as oil prices will be on moderate rollback, according to the pricing advisories of the oil companies.

The price of diesel products will be trimmed by P0.45 per liter; while gasoline prices will have marginal reduction of P0.25 per liter; and kerosene prices will be down by P0.90 per liter.

As of press time, the oil firms that already sent notices on their price cuts effective Tuesday (April 30) had been Shell Pilipinas Corporation, Seaoil and Cleanfuel; while their rival-players are expected to match their price adjustments.

Prior to this round of cost movements, a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE) has shown that price swings since the start of the year already logged net increases of P10.25 per liter for gasoline; P6.05 per liter for diesel; and P1.15 per liter for kerosene.

The digits on pricing seesaw in the international market had been generally ticking downwards last week despite array of colliding factors – and what reigned in the grip of traders had been the relatively weak demand for diesel and gasoline products in the Asian markets.

According to global experts, earlier projections of the international benchmark Brent crude rallying into the $90 per barrel territory fettered as market sentiments refocused instead on other market fundamentals instead of the escalating geopolitical events in the Middle East.

Global prices dipped to $86 per barrel level last week, but as of end-week trading on Friday (April 26), it climbed back anew to $89 per barrel due to relatively sudden market developments - including higher draw on US inventories.

Nevertheless, there were also offsetting factors such as the slowdown in the manufacturing performance of the US; and that somehow helped soften overall prices.

Other fundamentals being watched closely would be the driving season in the United States; as well as warning of wildfire risks which may affect oil production, including those in the Alberta province of Canada.

In the Philippine market, the relentless depreciation of the Philippine peso versus the US dollar is another factor being cautiously scrutinized on how this will impact the crude and finished petroleum product purchases of the oil companies.