Gasoline prices went up by P1.40 per liter—higher than the earlier forecast of P1.20 per liter—effective 6 a.m. today (Tuesday), but diesel and kerosene prices declined by P0.50 per liter and P0.35 per liter, respectively, local oil firms said in respective statements.
“Petron will implement the following price adjustments effective 6 a.m. on Nov 8: P1.40 per li increase for gasoline; P0.50/li rollback for diesel, and P0.35/li rollback for kerosene. These reflect movements in the international oil market,” Petron Corp., the country’s biggest oil player, said in its advisory.
PTT Philippines, Chevron Philippines, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Seaoil Philippines, PetroGazz, and Cleanfuel also implemented mixed price adjustments this week.
Unioil Petroleum Philippines said over the weekend, diesel should go down by P0.50 per liter to P0.50 to P0.60 per liter, but gasoline will go up by P1.10 to P1.20 per liter for the week of Nov. 8 to 14.
Rodela Romero, Director III of the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau, attributed this week’s oil price movement to the continuing effect of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to cut production by two million barrels per day.
“Due to seasonality of demand, implementation of OPEC cut and COVID surge in China which pulled down demand,” Romero said.
On Nov. 1, oil companies implemented a per liter decrease in gasoline by P0.25, diesel by P0.60, and P0.25 for kerosene.
These resulted in total year-to-date adjustments to stand at a net increase of P15.85 per liter for gasoline, P36.80 per liter for diesel, and P28.95 per liter for kerosene.
Data from the Department of Energy showed the total demand for petroleum products reached 13,256 million liters for the first half, an increase of 9.6 percent vis-à-vis last year’s 12,092 ML.
This can be translated to an average daily requirement of 73.2 ML, up from last year’s 66.8 ML.
The DOE said the growth in demand was due to increased economic activity and less stringent travel restrictions implemented nationwide.