The country’s oil firms raised pump prices by as much as P2.30 per liter effective 6am Tuesday to reflect the movement of prices in the world oil market.
The oil firms raised the price of kerosene by P2.30 per liter, diesel by P1.80 per liter and gasoline by P0.90 per liter as global worries over the Omicron variant eased.
This is the third consecutive weekly oil price hike for the month of January.
“Petron will implement the following price increases effective 6 a.m. on Jan 18: P0.90/li for gasoline; P1.80/li for diesel and P2.30/li for kerosene.
These reflect movements in the international oil market,” Petron said in its advisory.
Seaoil, PetroGazz, and Cleanfuel also raised pump prices, while other oil firms are expected to follow suit.
Over the weekend, Unioil Petroleum Philippines announced its forecast oil price hike of P1.80 per liter for diesel and P0.90 per liter for gasoline “to reflect the changes in the international oil market.”
On January 11, the oil companies implemented a price increase in domestic oil products. Gasoline increased by P0.75 per liter, P1 to P1.10 per liter for diesel and kerosene by P0.90 per liter.
These resulted in the year-to-date adjustments to stand at a total net increase of P2.60 per liter for gasoline, P3.50 per liter for diesel and P2.75 per liter for kerosene.
Crude prices started on a bullish tone this year as the market saw limited impact on demand recovery from the Omicron coronavirus variant, according to the Department of Energy’s monitoring.
“Despite rising cases, the hospitalization and death count remain low, allowing countries to do away with demand sapping lockdowns,” DOE said.
The gas and diesel market also got a boost from the sudden ban in coal exports by Indonesia, as Asian utility producers could possibly be switching to gas oil to cover the coal-fired power generation shortfall.