Oil companies were expected to cut pump prices by as much as P11.45 per liter for diesel and P5.45 per liter for gasoline today, Tuesday, to reflect the softening of world oil prices, which slid back to about $100 a barrel last week.
Kerosene will also go down by P8.55 a liter, the companies said, after world oil prices declined for five days last week.
Petron Corp. said it would roll back its prices at 6 a.m. today, saying these adjustments reflect movements in the international oil market.
Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, PTT Philippines, Cleanfuel, Seaoil Philippines, Total Philippines, Chevron Philippines and PetroGazz, and Flying V. issued separate announcements of their price cuts.
“This coming week, we hope for the best,” Energy Undersecretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr. said.
Erguiza said the worsening of the pandemic in China lowered demand while talks between Russia and Ukraine helped to bring down world oil prices.
He could not say whether the softening of world oil prices is only temporary but said the Department of Energy has already sought the support of Congress to amend the Oil Deregulation Law so that the government can intervene when prices go too high.
The latest oil price rollback, however, failed to wipe out the sharp increases that took effect on March 15, when diesel went up by P12 to P13.25 a liter, gasoline rose by P7.10 to P720 per liter, and kerosene climbed P10.50 a liter.
In other developments:
The Benguet Vegetable Truckers and Drivers Association said its members have increased prices per kilo as rising fuel prices have eaten into their earnings. The group’s secretary Rodrigo Lawan said their drivers would impose an additional 50 centavos per kilo of vegetables for delivery. For deliveries via sea, they imposed a P3 per kilo increase after cargo rates rose 17 percent, Lawan told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo. The group carries produce to Pampanga, Olongapo, Divisoria, and other major markets in Metro Manila.
Some shipping companies may increase their rates due to the successive fuel price hikes, the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) said Monday. Marina administrator Robert Empedrad told radio dzBB that the shipowners had agreed not to raise their rates during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the sharp increase in the cost of fuel, which accounts for 40 percent to 50 percent of their operational costs, is a big blow to them.