The continued volatility in the world oil market cut into the expected price rollback this week, as oil companies set a final cut of P0.60 per liter for gasoline, P0.40 per liter for kerosene, and P0.10 per liter for diesel effective 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Seaoil Philippines, PetroGazz, Cleanfuel and Jetti Petroleum announced the price rollback, ending five weeks of consecutive oil price hikes. Other oil companies are expected to follow.
“The volatility of oil market continues last week with factors pushing the prices to go down or up but after 5 consecutive weeks, we will be expecting a minimal rollback in the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene,” Department of Energy (DOE) director for the Oil Industry Management Bureau Rodela Romero said.
“Factors contributing to this downtrend are the following: surge in US crude inventory; global supply growth coming from Libya, Nigeria and Brazil; and doubts over demand forecasts, as IMF (International Monetary Fund) reported that China’s economic growth would slow to 4.6 percent in 2024,” Romero said.
Previous forecasts last week computed a price rollback of P1 to P1.20 per liter for gasoline and P0.40 to P0.60 per liter for diesel, based on the four-day trading of the Mean of Platts Singapore, the benchmark pricing used by oil importers.
However, Unioil Petroleum Philippines said Saturday gasoline should go down by P0.60 to P0.80 per liter, while diesel should go down by P0.20 to P0.30 per liter.
On Feb. 6, the oil companies raised the price of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene by P0.75, P1.50, and P0.80 per liter, respectively.
Year-to-date adjustment of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene stands at a net increase of P5.15, P4.40, and P0.85 per liter, respectively.
Prevailing retail prices of petroleum products in the National Capital Region for Jan. 30 to Feb. 5 range from P56.30 to P81.58 per liter for gasoline, P52.90 to P83.56 per liter for diesel, and P72.85 to P84.28 per liter for kerosene.