CONSUMERS may expect a rollback in petroleum prices of at least P1 per liter next week to reflect the downward movement of world oil prices, the Energy Department said over the weekend.
Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada said the price cuts “may be close to more than one peso per liter” depending on the type of product.
The oil firms cut the price of kerosene by P0.70 per liter and diesel by P0.50 per liter last week, but left gasoline prices untouched.
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. country chairman Ed Chua said the movements of world oil prices were hard to predict, adding “no one knows” whether oil prices had bottomed out.
“The price of oil was around 60 dollars at the start of the year, but now it is currently 38 dollars per barrel,” Chua said.
Eastern Petroleum chief executive Fernando Martinez earlier said “analysts expect the ongoing oversupply would push prices to fall further.”
The Philippines imports more than 90 percent of its fuel requirements, and domestic pump prices are adjusted weekly to reflect the movements in world oil prices.