Motorists filling up their vehicles with diesel will be in a better place in their drive to the gas stations next week, as the price of this product is anticipated to be on a rollback of P0.25 to P0.55 per liter, based on the estimates of the industry players.

The other fuel product that will have price decline of P0.35 to P0.65 per liter will be kerosene, an essential base for aviation fuel and it is also a major commodity used by households and other key industries.

The cost movement for gasoline, on the other, is still at a wobbly state as the oil companies are sensing either a ‘no price change’ scenario or this could still end up to be an increase of up to P0.20 per liter, or it could also be a rollback depending on the result of this week’s Friday (July 19) trading in the regional market.

If reckoned on the outcome of trading in the Asian market as indexed on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the calculated price reductions had been: P0.030 per liter for gasoline; P0.581 per liter for diesel and P0.676 per liter for kerosene.

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 still logged net increases of P10.25 per liter for gasoline; P8.15 per liter for diesel; and P1.20 per liter for kerosene.

This is already the third week that prices at the pumps have been on consistent downtrend, hence, it has been giving much needed relief into the pockets of Filipino consumers.

According to industry experts, global oil prices weakened this week because of lower-than-expected economic growth reported by China; and that somehow set off assumptions on oil demand slowdown in the months ahead.

Nevertheless, market watchers have cautioned on possible dip in inventories of key markets – and that could outweigh the odds of demand slowdown as a pricing pressure factor in the near-term trading days.

Additionally, there are news from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and ally-producers (OPEC+) on tightening compliance on agreed production cuts; and if that will materialize, that too, could spark off uptick in international oil prices.

The OPEC+ members being watched closely on adhering to output cutbacks would be Russia, then Iraq, which had been consistently reported to have resorted to over-production; and Kazakhstan which is expected to submit its updated production plan.

As of end-Thursday (July 18) trading, international benchmark Brent crude was at $84 per barrel level, which just slipped slightly from last week’s $85 per barrel level; but Asian regional trading yielded softening of prices overall, thus, prompting the price cuts that shall be reflected at the pumps next week.