The oil companies may increase oil prices by as much as P1.20 per liter of gasoline this week to reflect the continuing impact of the US-China trade war in the domestic market.
But Petron Corp. said it will roll back the price of its LPG by P3.40 per kilogram effective 12:01 a.m. today, Monday, and the price of its Auto LPG by P1.90 per liter also today.
“Expect fuel prices to go up next week. Diesel should go up by P0.90 and gasoline should go up by P1.10 to P1.20,” Unioil Philippines said in its weekly price forecast.
World oil prices are reacting to the US-China trade war and the expected production cuts from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Before the expected price increases this week, the year-to-date oil price adjustments have stood at a net increase of P3.70 per liter of gasoline, P2.75 per liter of diesel and P1.10 per liter of kerosene.
Today will be the third weekly oil price increase due to the continuing volatility of prices in the world market.
On June 26, most of the oil companies raised the price of gasoline by P0.30 per liter, diesel by P0.55 and kerosene by P0.45.
Oil prices went up last week as the tension remains high in the Middle East after the attacks on oil tankers and the fears of a confrontation between Iran and the United States.
US President Donald Trump approved military strikes on Iran for allegedly shooting down an unmanned US surveillance drone, but then abruptly called off the strike.
Meanwhile, OPEC and its allies have fixed the date of their coming meetings in Vienna to July 1-2 to discuss production cuts.
As this developed, the Philippine Institute of Petroleum was granted a 20-day temporary restraining order against the Department of Energy’s oil price unbundling circular.
The oil firms have been opposing the implementation of the Revised Guidelines for the Monitoring of Prices in the Sale of Petroleum Products by the Downstream Oil Industry on May 28 and was supposed to take effect on June 29.
The implementation of the circular, however, has been delayed due to the decision of the Energy department to republish the circular, including the annex as per the advice of its legal department.
The circular is expected to be effective on July 13, 15 days after its publication on June 28 “in order to avoid any possible confusion on the effectivity.”
The Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association, the country’s association of small players, also asked the department to withdraw the circular as it said it ran counter to the spirit of the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998.
“After going over its provisions, we are of the view that its implementation would greatly affect the viability of our business and run counter to the provisions of R.A. 8479, otherwise known as the Downstream Oil Deregulation Act,” IPPCA president Jesus Suntay said in a letter to Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.
The IPPCA submitted its position paper to the department and called for more studies on the circular before its implementation.
“We are requesting that after a thorough study and consideration of our arguments…the questioned circular be withdrawn,” Suntay said.