Diesel will likely go down P2 a liter and gasoline by almost as much next week as oil companies adjust their pumps to reflect the movement of prices in the world oil market.
The rollback will put an end to three consecutive weeks of oil price hikes for gasoline and diesel, which reached a total of P5.05 per liter for gasoline and P3.75 per liter for diesel.
Department of Energy (DOE) director for the Oil Industry Management Bureau Rodela Romero said she expects a price rollback based on the four-day trading in the world oil market.
Romero said gasoline prices will likely go down by almost P2 per liter and diesel and kerosene by more than P2 per liter.
She said the computation does not include the administrative and operating costs of the oil companies.
Romero attributed the price cut to the “ongoing recessionary fears, the threat of further interest rates and the build-up in US inventories of crude, petrol, and distillates.”
Sources said world oil prices were also influenced by reports that Russian exports remained strong and the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies not to cut production, contrary to market expectations.
On Jan. 31, the oil companies raised pump prices of gasoline by P1.30, diesel by P1, and kerosene by P1.35.
This resulted in a total net increase this year of P7.20 per liter for gasoline, P3.05 per liter for diesel, and P4.45 per liter for kerosene.
Also on Friday, the DOE said it will release an energy storage system (ESS) policy on Feb. 14.
Energy Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said this would take into account an increase in renewable energy, which can be affected by many variables.
For example, she said, for wind energy, if the wind dies down, the output of energy will go down as well, so an energy storage system would compensate for the lack of wind.
These energy storage systems would also help transmission and distribution providers because they need to stabilize their system, she added.