Oil firms roll back gasoline prices, hike diesel, kerosene prices
MANILA, Philippines – Oil companies reduced prices of gasoline but raised those of diesel and kerosene on Tuesday to reflect international product price and foreign exchange movements.
At 6 a.m. Tuesday, Petron, Shell, Chevron, and Seaoil implemented price cuts of P0.50 per liter of gasoline but increased the prices of diesel by P0.20 per liter and of kerosene by P0.25 per liter.
Also from 6 a.m., Total and PTT implemented a P0.20 hike on diesel and P0.50 cut on gasoline prices. Eastern Petroleum said Tuesday that it would implement the same price adjustments on gasoline and diesel from 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday.
With those adjustments, the year-to-date net increase for gasoline has been trimmed to P1.40 per liter, while the net increase for diesel stood at P2.58/liter. LPG on the other hand has a net decrease of P4.75/kg.
The latest price adjustments before those on Tuesday were implemented on August 6, when the oil companies rolled back gasoline prices by P0.35 and increased kerosene prices by P0.25 per liter. No adjustment was implemented on diesel.
Article continues after this advertisementFor LPG, an increase of P1.55/kg (VAT exclusive) was last implemented on Aug. 1 due to the increase in contract price for the month to $820/MT from $791.50/MT in July.
Article continues after this advertisementThe oil companies in the Philippines tend to impose similar price movements as the country imports about 90 percent of its fuel requirements.
The Department of Energy’s latest Oil Monitor report said Dubai crude was relatively stable in late July to early August, trading between $104 and $105 a barrel, but better than expected manufacturing data in the U.S. and China signified increased demand in the world’s two largest oil consumers.
Dubai crude also leaped on the back of continued political turmoil in Yemen and Libya, halting the flow of crude.
Meanwhile, Asian gasoil/diesel market remained generally weak by end-July, the report said, quoting Platts. However, reports of diesel shortage in Malaysia due to fuel subsidies brought prices higher by almost $2 a barrel on August 2, the report said.
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