MANILA, Philippines — Consumers can expect higher fuel prices this week following reports of a drone attack on a refinery based in the oil-rich Saudi Arabia as well as several developments affecting the global oil market, where the Philippines mainly gets its supply.
Starting Tuesday, pump prices will experience another round of hikes. In an advisory, local firm Seaoil Philippines announced a price increase in its gasoline products by P3.40 per liter, diesel by P8.65 per liter and kerosene by P9.40 per liter.
Another oil firm Cleanfuel announced similar adjustments for gas and diesel.
This marks the 12th round of weekly fuel price increases this year. This comes just after companies announced a rollback in its fuel products when they were able to buy oil at lower prices in the market.
Rodela Romero, Assistant Director of the Department of Energy's Oil Industry Management Bureau told Philstar.com in an online exchange that some global developments are responsible for this week's price adjustments. These include:
- A recent drone attack on a refinery based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;
- Reports from the IEA (International Energy Agency) that the global oil market can lose three million barrels of Russian oil products per day next month; and
- Storm damage to the crucial Black Sea export terminal
Meanwhile, a Cleanfuel representative told Philstar.com in an online interview that "continuous volatility in the global oil market" caused by the war between Ukraine and Russia contributed to the price increases this week.
Gas, diesel and kerosene prices in the Philippines have been constantly increasing since the beginning of 2022 due to tight supply in the global market partly worsened by the Ukraine vs. Russia geopolitical conflict.
The sustained rise in fuel prices amid the pandemic prompted the State to release fuel subsidies for affected sectors in the agriculture and transport industries.
READ: DOE: Fuel subsidies for public transport, agriculture raised to P6.1B
It was only last week oil firms announced a rollback in fuel prices as the global oil prices went down, according to the Energy department.
Based on data collected from the announcements of oil firms since the start of the year, the price adjustments of oil products are as follows: P18.3 per liter for gasoline, P27.85 per liter for diesel and P25.75 per liter for kerosene.