It will not be a happy drive to the gas pumps this week, as fuel prices will rise again for the fourth week in a row, based on the pricing adjustment advisories of the oil companies.

The oil firms announced that the price of gasoline products will increase by a hefty P1.60 per liter; while diesel prices will go up by P0.65 per liter; and kerosene by P0.60 per liter.

As of press time, the industry players that already sent notices on their price hikes effective Tuesday (July 9) had been Shell Pilipinas Corporation, Cleanfuel, Seaoil Philippines and Chevron; while their competitors will also take the usual routine of matching this fresh batch of price upticks.

With the relentless ascend of prices since last month, consumers are already experiencing aggravated strain on their budgets -- not just for their weekly spend on fuel but also on the spiraling impact of surging oil prices on the cost of services and basic commodities.

According to industry experts, there had been intensifying pressure on global oil prices due to rising demand, fresh escalation of geopolitical tension in the Middle East, as well as the incursion of extreme weather events.

For the US market, there had been reports of drop in inventories for its crude, gasoline and diesel products, hence, that caused strain on available supply in markets.

Apart from the onset of the hurricane season, there were also incidents of wildfire that had affected oil production in Canada, and that served as added factor to the volatile pricing in global markets in recent trading days.

The Red Sea tension and recent Ukranian attacks on the oil infrastructure facilities of Russia still have their ‘extended effect’ also on the swing of prices in the world market.

For the Asian market, in particular, there had been lower exports from Japan and South Korea for this month; while China logged scaled down refinery runs – and these are seen to be given weight in the outcome of trading in the regional market.

As of Monday (July 8) trading, international benchmark Brent crude was still trading at $86 per barrel, going down slightly from $87 per barrel in the recent end-week trading.