The country’s oil firms raised pump prices by as much as P1.40 per liter effective 6 a.m. Tuesday to reflect the movement of prices in the world market.
The companies implemented hikes of P1.40 per liter for gasoline, P0.50 per liter for diesel, and P0.40 per liter for kerosene.
“Phoenix Petroleum Philippines will increase the prices of gasoline by P1.40 per liter and diesel by P0.50 per liter effective 6 AM of April 4, 2023,” the company said in its advisory.
Seaoil Philippines, Jetti Philippines, PetroGazz, Caltex Philippines, and PTT Philippines also issued separate advisories of their increases.
Rodela Romero, Department of Energy director for the Oil Industry Management Bureau, forecasted this week’s hikes “due to an ease of tension brought about by the banking crisis and supply disruption in Turkey.”
“Inventory of US fell down more than expected especially for gasoline and distillates and last a sign of strong demand in Asia due to China’s recovery,” Romero added.
On March 28, the oil companies applied a price rollback of P0.85 per liter for gasoline, P1.30 per liter for diesel, and P1.90 per liter for kerosene.
These resulted in a year-to-date net decrease for diesel at P4.15 per liter and kerosene at P5.55 per liter. Gasoline, on the other hand, has a net increase of P4.65 per liter this year.
On April 1, oil firms also cut the price of cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas due to the lower LPG contract price in the world market.
Petron Corp. announced a P9.20 per kilo price cut for LPG, which translates to a rollback of P101.20 per 11-kilo LPG tank used primarily by households.
“AutoLPG prices will likewise rollback by P5.14 per liter at the same time. These reflect the international contract price of LPG for the month of April,” Petron said.
Solane LPG also announced a price cut of P9.18 per kilo VAT inclusive effective April 1.
Prior to the rollback, household LPG in Metro Manila was estimated to range from P934 to P1,118 per 11-kilo cylinder.
On Feb. 1, the oil firms hiked LPG prices by P10 to P11.20 per kilo or about P110 to P123 per 11-kilo cylinder. Auto LPG likewise increased by P6.25 per liter.