The Department of Energy announced a possible big time oil price rollback of as much as P1.65 per liter next week due to the slowdown in demand.
Department of Energy director for the oil industry management bureau Rodela Romero said the estimated rollback based on the 4-day trading in the Mean of Platts Singapore, is P0.90 to P1.20 per liter for gasoline, P1.30 to P1.60 per liter for diesel and P1.50 to P1.65 per liter for kerosene.
“Weakening global demand prospects and expectations of oil oversupply are the main factors for the said rollbacks,” Romero said.
She said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) revised downwards its demand forecast for this year and 2025 as reflected in the September Oil Market Report.
“Likewise, China’s crude demand remains seasonally weak. On the supply side, Iraq’s and Libya’s crude exports hit an 8-month high and have resumed loading, respectively,” Romero said.
This will be the second consecutive week of oil price rollback.
On Sept. 10, the oil companies implemented a decrease of P1.55 per liter for gasoline, P1.30 per liter for diesel and P1.40 per liter for kerosene.
Year-to-date, total adjustment of gasoline and diesel stands at a net increase of P5.85 per liter and P3.05 per liter, respectively, while kerosene has a total net decrease of P4.70 per liter.
Meanwhile, the DOE said the Supreme Court has affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals to reverse and set aside the Writ of Preliminary Injunction previously issued by a regional trial court in favor of the Philippine Institute of Petroleum Inc., Isla LPG Corporation, PTT Philippines Corporation, and Total Philippines Corporation relative to the unbundling of the oil prices.
The DOE said the injunction sought to enjoin the agency from implementing a circular requiring oil companies to submit detailed reports on the unbundled components of their pricing.
It said that the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998 expressly authorizes the DOE to require oil companies to provide detailed reports on petroleum product prices, enabling the DOE to fulfill its mandated duty to monitor international crude oil prices and track domestic price movements.
The DOE howeveer said that “while the ruling affirms the DOE’s monitoring powers and functions and addresses the propriety of the injunction, the main petition remains pending before Branch 58 of the RTC of Makati.”
