Motorists face another hefty fuel price hike on Tuesday
Motorists will need to brace for another round of over-a-peso fuel price hikes this week following the recent uptick in demand and the gradual easing of geopolitical tensions.
According to the Department of Energy (DOE), gasoline will have a maximum price increase of up to ₱1.60 per liter, diesel by up to ₱1.96 per liter, and kerosene by ₱1.45 per liter.
These price increases are effective from Tuesday, May 26, to Monday, June 1.
Although price hikes were already expected last week, the market saw tensions in the Middle East ease, thus tempering the increases slightly. Additionally, diesel and other middle distillate prices dropped due to improved supply from Asia. The market is also keeping an eye on gasoline, as an industry expert earlier noted the start of declining inventories during this season.
The DOE likewise noted that the country’s overall expected days of supply now stand at 44.82 days. Among the three petroleum products, kerosene has the largest inventory at 138.93 days, followed by gasoline at 45.87 days.
Diesel, however, declined to 41.07 days. This amount is slightly lower than the total expected available days of supply for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), or cooking gas, which stands at 41.49 days.
So far, Seaoil, Jetti Petroleum, Petro Gazz, and Cleanfuel are among the few oil companies that have announced these price adjustments as of writing.
Oil companies continue to comply with the DOE’s prescribed price adjustments under Executive Order (EO) No. 110, which declared a state of national energy emergency. The directive grants the agency temporary authority to dictate price adjustment ranges, allowing the DOE to enforce maximum caps on fuel increases and minimum limits on rollbacks.