The country’s oil firms rolled back pump prices by as much as P0.35 per liter for gasoline effective 6 am Tuesday to reflect the movement of prices in the world oil market.
The oil firms also cut the price of kerosene by P0.30 per liter and diesel by P0.10 per liter as traders remain wary about the growth of the Chinese economy.
“Phoenix Petroleum Philippines will decrease the prices of gasoline by P0.35 per liter and diesel by P0.10 per liter effective 6 am of June 20, 2023,” the company said in a statement.
The rollback is lower than the previously forecasted values last week of as much as P0.65 per liter starting Tuesday, as markets expressed concern over more rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve.
Industry sources estimated a price rollback on the prices of petroleum products of P0.30 to P0.65 per liter for gasoline and P0.30 to P0.55 per liter for diesel.
Sources said kerosene was also likely to go down by P0.40 to P0.65 per liter.
The movement is based on the Mean of Platts Singapore movement, the benchmark of oil importers and foreign exchange average week-on-week.
“Markets weighed optimism of China’s robust demand data over more US interest rate hikes that temper their energy demand,” Department of Energy director for the Oil Industry Management Bureau Rodela Romero said.
On Monday, Reuters reported that world oil prices declined by one percent amid questions over China’s economy, which outweighed the production cuts to be implemented by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies starting in July.
Domestic pump prices have seesawed these past weeks, with a price increase implemented on June 13 and a rollback on June 6 as global oil prices remained volatile.
The oil companies raised prices per liter by P1.20 for gasoline, P1.40 for diesel, and P1.30 for kerosene on June 13.
These price adjustments resulted in a year-to-date net decrease for diesel at P3.95 per liter and kerosene at P6.05 per liter.
Gasoline, on the other hand, has a net increase of P6.70 per liter.