MANILA, Philippines — Consumers and motorists may see a rollback in fuel prices next week due to recent developments in the global oil market, where the country mainly gets its supply from, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).
"There is an indication that liquid petroleum products may experience a rollback next week," DOE Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad said in Filipino during an interview with Super Radyo DzBB on Friday.
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Diesel, gasoline and kerosene are forms of liquified petroleum products.
Diesel prices may go down by as much as P2.10 per liter, and gasoline can drop to up to P1.30 per liter next week, an oil industry source told GMA Network.
Abad said that LPG or liquified petroleum gas, often used for cooking, may experience higher rollbacks of "more than P5 per kilogram."
While the prices of other fuel products are reported weekly, LPG prices are announced once a month.
Abad said they made their forecast after noting that the world oil market has already experienced the impacts of the war between Ukraine and Russia, adding that further developments will not have a huge effect.
Abad said they were expecting a rise in pump prices following reports of the European Union imposing a moratorium on Russian oil exports, which would affect world supply. But this has not happened yet, and because of this, the market "calmed down."
Sentiments and speculations drive oil price movements.
Since the start of the year, gas, diesel and kerosene prices in the Philippines have been increasing due to supply issues, partly worsened by the geopolitical war between Russia and Ukraine.
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So far, domestic oil firms have announced three rollbacks but they were not enough to offset the sustained fuel price increases since the beginning of 2022.
Based on the advisories of local oil companies since the first week of 2022, the price adjustments of oil products are as follows: P18.45 per liter for gasoline, P31.45 per liter for diesel and P22.05 per liter for kerosene. — Angelica Y. Yang