Domestic oil prices will have a mixed movement on Tuesday, with gasoline expected to go up by as much as P1.20 per liter and diesel to go down by as much as P0.60 per liter.
Unioil Petroleum Philippines said diesel should go down by P0.50 to P0.60 per but gasoline will go up by P1.10 to P1.20 per liter for the week of Nov. 8 to 14.
Rodela Romero, Director III of the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau, attributed this week’s oil price movement to the continuing effect of the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to cut production by two million barrels per day.
“Due to seasonality of demand, implementation of OPEC cut and COVID surge in China which pulled down demand,” Romero said.
On Nov. 1, the oil companies implemented a per liter decrease in gasoline by P0.25, diesel by P0.60, and P0.25 for kerosene.
These resulted in the total year-to-date adjustments to stand at a net increase of P15.85 per liter for gasoline, P36.80 per liter for diesel, and P28.95 per liter for kerosene.
Data from the Department of Energy showed the total demand for petroleum products reached 13,256 million liters for the first half, an increase of 9.6 percent vis-à-vis last year’s 12,092 ML.
This can be translated to an average daily requirement of 73.2 ML compared to last year’s 66.8 ML.
The DOE said the growth in demand was due to increased economic activity and less stringent travel restrictions implemented nationwide.
The agency said the Philippines imported all its crude imports from the Middle East during the period, with the bulk from Saudi Arabia.
Major oil companies (Petron Corp., Chevron Philippines, and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.) captured a 40.77 percent market share of the total demand during the period.