Fuel prices cut anew
Local oil firms implemented bigger-than-expected rollbacks in gasoline and diesel prices for the sixth straight week due to weaker demand amid the global oil glut.
Petron, Shell and Seaoil cut the prices of their gasoline and diesel by 60 centavos per liter effective at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. They also reduced the price of kerosene by 45 centavos per liter.
Phoenix Petroleum Philippines and PTT Philippines adjusted gasoline and diesel prices at 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Eastern Petroleum Corp. lowered its gasoline and diesel prices by 65 centavos per liter and 55 centavos per liter, respectively, effective at 6 p.m. on Monday.
In a statement, Fernando L. Martinez, chair and CEO of Eastern Petroleum, said the oversupply in the world market continued to soften oil prices.
“Analysts have indicated that prices may continue to remain stable at its current low levels up to August. Thus, motorists are rest assured that local pump prices would be reflective of the price trend in the world oil market. However, prices for September appear to be on the upswing,” he said.
About 50 centavos
Over the weekend, industry sources told the Inquirer that the potential drop in prices could be less than 50 centavos given slight blips in price recovery last Friday. Others said the overall trend for the past trading week seemed to point to a price rollback of “about 50 centavos.”
Besides an oversupply in the global market, industry analysts also attributed the higher-than-expected oil price cuts to much weaker demand due to lower rig counts in the US and the end of the American driving season, as well as expectations of weaker Chinese and European demand.
With the price cuts this week, the net increase in the price of gasoline has declined to P2.59 per liter since January. Diesel has posted a net decrease of P1.49 per liter.
Including this week’s rollback, there have been 17 oil price cuts and 14 hikes of varying degrees since the start of 2015. The overall trend has been downward, reflecting the lingering price softness in the world market.
Prices of LPG products, which are updated monthly, remained at a net decrease of P7.05 per kilogram.
