The typhoon-induced torrential rains and flooding incidents in recent days might have plunged many Filipinos into a new realm of financial hardship - including those in Metro Manila, but the rollback in oil prices this week is expected to bring much needed relief to consumers’ squeezed budgets in the aftermath of a crippling disaster.

As announced by the oil companies, the price of gasoline products will be reduced by P0.75 per liter; and diesel prices will be down by P0.85 per liter.

Similarly for kerosene, which is a commodity critically needed now for households that are still groping in the dark following the power outages caused by typhoon Carina, its price will be slashed by P0.80 per liter.

As of press time, the industry players that already sent notices on their price cuts effective Tuesday (July 30) had been Shell Pilipinas Corporation, Cleanfuel, Seaoil, Chevron and PTT Philippines; while their competitor-firms are all anticipated to match the newly-pared prices at the pumps.

According to global experts, the softening of oil prices in the world market last week was still largely traced to the ‘gloomy sentiment’ at market trading due to the slower economic growth posted by China, the world’s second biggest economy.

The factors which provided counterweight to that had been reports on the declining inventory of the United States as well as the wildfires in Canada, but markets still ultimately leaned heavier on fundamentals pointing to overall demand slowdown.

Onward, one major prospective market pressure being closely watched is the scheduled August meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and ally-producers (OPEC+), primarily to discuss their newly-submitted compensation plans on production cutbacks – primarily for Iraq, Kazakhstan and Russia, which have been identified as the ‘overproducers’ in their league.

In the US market, there is also a proposed bill lodged by Democrat legislators that the oil companies found to be colluding with OPEC will no longer be awarded with new oil and gas leases across federal lands and waters.

For the Philippine market, the Department of Energy (DOE) emphasized that the price freeze resulting from the ‘state of calamity’ declaration in typhoon-pummeled areas will only apply to kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products, but if the resulting price will be a reduction, that must still be implemented by the oil companies.

The department similarly instructed the industry players to re-assess the quality of their products before retailing them to consumers – primarily those that had been stored in their underground tanks – that way, they can ensure that these were not compromised or contaminated from the floodwaters which submerged most of Metro Manila and various Luzon areas last week.