Consumers are facing a double whammy as oil firms announced a price hike of as much as P1.50 per liter for diesel fuel, while power rates of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) are also expected to go up this week.
Oil firms also increased the price of kerosene by P0.80 per liter and gasoline by P0.75 per liter to reflect the movement of prices in the world oil market. It was the fifth straight week local firms raised prices for their fuels.
Seaoil Philippines, PetroGazz, Jetti Petroleum and PTT Philippines issued separate advisories of their price hikes effective 6 a.m. Tuesday, while other oil companies are expected to follow.
Meanwhile, Meralco spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said they have yet to receive all the billings from its suppliers, but initial indications show there may be “upward pressure” for electricity bills for February.
“This is due to the resumption of the collection of the feed-in tariff allowance or FIT-All, which will be reflected this month as directed by the Energy Regulatory Commission,” Zaldarriaga said.
“There is also pressure on the generation charge to go up driven by higher fuel prices, particularly of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) used by gas-fired power plants. We hope, however, that this will somehow be mitigated by lower WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market) prices, as well as the lower energy demand due to the cool weather during the January supply month,” he said.
Department of Energy director for the Oil Industry Management Bureau Rodela Romero said this is the fifth consecutive oil price hike.
This latest oil price increase was supported by several factors, such as the drone attacks and fires to oil facilities of Russia, designed to disrupt supply lines and logistics.
The proposal to extend the production cut of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) to 2.2 million barrels per day until the first quarter of 2024 was another factor.
Romero said world oil prices were also impacted by the US Federal Reserve’s plans to reduce interest rates to help boost economic growth and to help create demand for commodities like crude oil, plus an economic stimulus package to boost China’s economy.
Oil companies raised the price of gasoline, diesel and kerosene by P2.80 per liter, P1.30 per liter and P0.45 per liter, respectively on Jan. 30.
The total adjustment of gasoline and diesel for the year stands at a net increase of P4.40 per liter and P2.90 per liter, respectively.
Kerosene, on the other hand, has a net decrease for the year of P0.05 per liter.
Prevailing retail prices of petroleum products in the National Capital Region for Jan. 30 to Feb. 5 range from P56.30 to P81.80 per liter for gasoline, P52.90 to P82.06 per liter for diesel and P72.09 to P83.48 per liter for kerosene.