Eastern Petroleum hikes diesel, gasoline prices

MANILA, Philippines — Independent player Eastern Petroleum has decided to raise prices of diesel and kerosene by 85 centavos a liter and of gasoline by 45 centavos a liter effective Tuesday, reflecting the increases in global oil prices last week.

The latest price adjustment followed the price hike implemented by oil companies last May 31 and broke the successive price reductions seen early in May.

Prior to Tuesday’s oil price hike, diesel prices ranged P42.60 a liter to P44.60 a liter while gasoline retailed for P51.25 a liter to as high as P57.52 a liter. As of May 31, the net increase in gasoline had reached P5.67 a liter and P5.30 a liter for diesel products.

Other oil companies have yet to announce their respective price adjustments, as of press time.

According to the latest oil monitor report from the Department of Energy, oil prices began to pick up during the May 23-27 period after US banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley both raised their 2012 forecasts for Brent crude to around $130 a barrel.

During the same period, Asian Dubai crude benchmark increased by about 10 cents a barrel over the previous week average. Prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene also increased by $0.75, $0.10 and $0.15, respectively, on the same comparative period.

As of June 3, the price of the Dubai crude stood at $110.31 a barrel, while prices of gasoline and diesel, based on the Mean of Platts Singapore benchmark for refined petroleum products, stood at $120.05 a barrel and $129.77 a barrel, respectively.