Oil price rollback seen next week

MANILA, Philippines—Motorists may enjoy savings on fuel next week as prices are expected to go down on tempered speculation in the international market, the Department of Energy (DOE) said.

AP FILE PHOTO

Zenaida Y. Monsada, director of the DOE-Oil Industry Management Bureau, said there would be a possible rollback on diesel, kerosene and gasoline prices next week.

“We expect good news next week. We expect a round of rollbacks and somewhat larger than previous ones,” Monsada said.

She said that oil firms are expected to implement similar oil price cuts next week. She said the rollback might be more than 50 centavos per liter for each product.

Asked on the possibility of a rollback near P1 per liter, Monsada said it would depend on Friday trades but there was a possibility it would come to that. Definitely, she said, the price trend is downward.

Monsada said the international oil market was “quiet” this week. The supply uncertainty sparked by political tension in Ukraine somewhat dissipated with the holding of recent elections. “Many are hopeful that the situation there will improve,” Monsada said.

Another issue that has been supporting speculation on oil prices is the unrest in Libya, from which the Department of Foreign Affairs has apparently pulled out workers.

“Yet, supply from Libya is continuous,” Monsada said. “In fact we expect increasing supply from there.”

There is also a stronger US dollar, which makes buying oil more affordable. Crude from the Middle East is thus cheaper as investors seek yields from other commodities, such as metals or agricultural products. That means more supply for oil. Riza T. Olchondra

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