DOE sees new oil price hikes

Gasoline prices will likely go up in the next few weeks amid talks of a US military strike on Iraq and reduced crude production by oil exporting countries, the Department of Energy (DOE) said yesterday.

"The price of oil has been volatile in the past days in reaction to the different international events. Any increase in world oil prices could affect our domestic prices given (the fact) that the country sources its oil requirements abroad," Energy Secretary Vincent Perez said.

Perez noted that world crude prices went up anew over the past few days, with Dubai crude, the benchmark used in oil pricing in the Philippines, reaching $26 per barrel.

He said the drop in oil inventories of big economies such as the United States, Japan and Europe vis-a-vis the increase in consumption will also affect crude prices in the international market.

DOE data showed that Dubai crude hit $26 per barrel last Tuesday, the highest since May. Between Aug. 1 and 21, Dubai crude averaged $24.79 per barrel, up 13 cents from July’s rate of $24.66.

Perez also said that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) might continue its oil supply cut when its members meet in Osaka, Japan next month to put pressure on world crude prices.

OPEC and other oil-producing countries such as Russia and Mexico agreed earlier to lower their production starting this year to pull up prices to the $25 to $28 bracket to recoup their losses when prices dropped to as low as $17 per barrel last year.

"We believe that given these developments, we might see in the near future local oil prices reflecting the trend in the international market," Perez said.

Local oil companies jacked up their pump prices again earlier this month by an average of 30 centavos per liter. The hike came following a series of price reductions last year.

Fuel prices in the local market went down by a total of P1.44 per liter from September to December last year.

During the first semester of 2002, local oil companies also lowered their prices twice for a total of 51 centavos.

Since June, however, gasoline prices rebounded. The oil firms increased their prices four times for a cumulative net increase of P1.75 per liter.