Oil prices will go up by over P1 per liter this week as the global oil market continues to adjust to an impending production cut.
“Estimates for the four-day trading period last week showed that increase could be between P1.40 to P1.50 for gasoline, diesel and kero,” a source said.
The source said prices are going up due to “increase in demand, less supply from the Middle East and forex [foreign exchange].”
The depreciation of the peso means that the oil companies will need more pesos to pay for their orders.
Last week the oil firms cut the price of diesel by P0.25 per liter but did not touch gasoline and kerosene prices.
As this developed, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has directed Undersecretary Donato Marcos to conduct inspections and sampling of liquid petroleum products in various gasoline stations and retail outlets nationwide for compliance with existing Philippine National Standards for fuels, especially focusing on the presence of methanol in their liquid petroleum products.
Cusi earlier said that contrary to the Philippine National Standard for petroleum products, some stations were found to contain methanol instead of ethanol.
The presence of methanol in the gasoline can cause corrosion in the engine.
The department applies standard operating procedures in sampling and testing to determine the compliance of petroleum products.
“We look into the quantity and quality of petroleum products being sold to our consumers. Initially, inspection results showed that all gasoline samples passed the calibration test for quantity of fuels. But for quality, only one sample is still being confirmed for having methanol at the DoE laboratory,” Cusi said.
He said the department saw the need to intensify this campaign to further protect the consumer.
“That is why this activity is simultaneously being done nationwide through the DoE’s Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao Field Offices,” he said.