Most local oil companies reduced pump prices of diesel amid lingering pressure due to excess supply.
Petron, Shell and Seaoil cut diesel prices by 25 centavos per liter at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. Minor oil player Phoenix Petroleum Philippines was to implement a similar price cut at 6 a.m. There was no movement for gasoline.
International oil trends monitoring agency Platts said the gasoil/diesel refineries started to return from scheduled maintenance and were running at higher rates due to good margins.
So far, total adjustments this year have resulted in net increases of P5.69 per liter for gasoline and 96 centavos per liter for diesel since January. LPG had a net decrease of P6.60 per kilogram.
The trading week began with crude oil prices posting consistent increases, reversing declines in previous week as the oil cartel OPEC left production level unchanged at 30 million barrels per day in their June 5 meeting.–Riza T. Olchondra