Oil prices are forecast to have a mixed movement next week, with gasoline prices going up by less than P1 per liter while diesel and kerosene prices are expected to go down.
Rodela Romero, Director III of the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau, said local oil firms would likely roll back diesel prices by almost P3 per liter and kerosene by more than P3 per liter.
Romero attributed the price adjustments, which reflect the first four days of trading, to the renewed expectation of further aggressive US Federal Reserve rate hikes that will potentially curb economic activity.
According to DOE’s monitoring, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates by an unprecedented 75 basis points on September 8 to rein in inflation, even as recession fears were growing in Europe amid weakening economic indicators and a looming energy crisis.
This was after Russia indefinitely halted natural gas flows via the critical Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Europe.
Romero said the latest US inflation data also failed to offset the strong demand forecast from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). At the same time, fears of a slowdown in demand due to lockdowns in China also influenced global prices, she added.
On September 13, oil companies implemented a per-liter decrease in gasoline by P0.45, diesel by P1.45, and P1.70 for kerosene.
These resulted in the total year-to-date adjustments at a net increase of P16.50/liter for gasoline, P34.80/liter for diesel, and P29.90/liter for kerosene.