The country’s oil firms will implement a big-time oil price increase of as much as P1.50 per liter this coming week to reflect the movement of prices in the world market.
“Expect fuel prices to go up next week. Diesel should go up by P1.40 to P1.50 and gasoline should go up by P1.30 to P1.40 per liter. Load up accordingly,” Unioil Philippines said.
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This will be the third consecutive weekly increase as oil companies implement the latest adjustment of oil prices every Tuesday.
On Feb. 9, the country’s oil firms raised pump prices by P0.70 per liter for diesel and gasoline and P0.35 per liter for kerosene.
According to the latest monitoring report of the Department of Energy, year-to-date adjustments stand at a net increase of P2.20 per liter for gasoline, P3 per liter for diesel and P2.05 per liter for kerosene.
DOE said in its report that oil prices went up after an outage at Saudi Arabia’s offshore oilfield, which could impact on supply.
It noted that global oil supply has also been curbed by US sanctions on Venezuelan and Iranian crude and reduced Libyan output because of civil unrest.
Security threats could threaten Nigerian production after general elections this weekend, it added.
Growing confidence that the United States and China will resolve their ongoing trade dispute also supported prices.
Meanwhile, Senator Bam Aquino appealed to Malacañang to suspend the excise tax on fuel under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, ahead of another round of oil price hike this week.
“I am appealing to President (Rodrigo) Duterte to suspend additional taxes on petroleum to help our people,” said Aquino, one of four senators who voted against the ratification of the TRAIN Law.
In an effort to lower prices of petroleum products, Aquino filed the Bawas Presyo sa Petrolyo Bill in May 2018, seeking to suspend and roll back the excise tax on fuel under the TRAIN Law once the country’s inflation rate exceeds the government’s target for three straight months.
“Our people can only seek help from Malacañang because Congress session is over,” Aquino insisted, adding that government should listen to the cry of people burdened by high prices of food and other goods.
With oil prices in the world market rising, Aquino said the government should act now and immediately suspend the excise tax on fuel under the TRAIN Law to help lower prices of petroleum products.
“With the increase of the price of oil in the world market, it is not right to impose this excise tax due to TRAIN Law because our poor people would be hit by this increase,” said Aquino. With Macon Ramos-Araneta
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