Today’s P2.70 per liter price increase for diesel has wiped out five consecutive weeks of rollbacks, Department of Energy data showed.
This is the second consecutive week of upward adjustment in domestic pump prices, with an increase of as much as P2.90 per liter for kerosene and P0.80 per liter for gasoline as the country’s net oil import bill more than doubled to $9.705 billion in the first six months.
Oil firms last week raised the price of diesel by P6.85 per liter, kerosene by P3.50 per liter, and gasoline by P1.20 per liter.
This week’s price increase offset the five-week rollback, resulting in a net increase of P.070 for diesel, and a net decrease of P3.10 for gasoline and P3.55 for kerosene.
Data from the DOE showed that Dubai crude went up by $2.11 per barrel to $93.28 per barrel last week from $91.17 per barrel last week.
DOE director for the oil industry management bureau Rino Abad said consumers can expect pump prices to continue rising because of the decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to cut production by 2 million barrels per day starting next month.
“Oil prices will continue to go up. The only way that will be reversed is if OPEC+ cannot fulfill its announcement to cut production,” Abad said.
Ahead of the production cut, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is proposing to source fuel from other countries such as Russia to secure the country’s oil supply requirements, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said.
“Our downstream oil industry is in the hands of the private sector, but it always pays to encourage them to source from the most competitive sources, including Russia,” Lotilla said.
OPEC+ announced a production cut of two million barrels per day starting next month to push up oil prices which dropped slightly above $80 per barrel from a high of $120 per barrel in the previous months due to global recession fears.
Several transport groups have reiterated their plea for the government to suspend the collection of excise tax on petroleum products for three to four months.
Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines president Ricardo Rebaño said the suspension is a “win-win solution,” noting that it is a better solution than imposing another round of fare hike that will merely burden the commuters.
Following the signing of Republic Act 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN Law), the government is currently imposing an excise tax rate of P10 per liter for gasoline and P6 per liter for diesel.