Eastern Petroleum to hike gasoline, diesel prices Wednesday

Eastern Petroleum announced Tuesday that it is raising prices of gasoline by P1/liter and of diesel by 50 centavos/liter effective Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2012. PHOTO FROM EASTERNPETROLEUM.COM.PH

MANILA, Philippines—Eastern Petroleum Corp. is raising prices of gasoline by P1 a liter and of diesel by 50 centavos a liter effective Wednesday.

In an advisory, Eastern Petroleum said the latest price adjustment was meant to reflect the continued uptrend of oil prices in the global market last week. The independent player, however, was the first and only oil firm to announce its price adjustment for the week as of press time. Other companies are expected to follow suit.

Prior to this week’s oil price hike, gasoline prices ranged from P51.48 a liter to P58.50, while diesel products retailed anywhere between P44.69 a liter and P48.28 a liter. As of last week, the net increase in gasoline prices stood at P3.60 a liter and for diesel, P2.15 a liter.

On Tuesday, Zenaida Y. Monsada of the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau explained that the rise in the fuel prices could be attributed to the tension brewing in Iran, which had threatened to cut off its supply to six European countries before the so-called oil embargo this July.

Iranian lawmakers are pushing a plan to halt crude exports to Europe before the European Union begins an oil embargo on July 1. The embargo is part of a broader strategy by Western nations to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear program.

Also putting pressure on local fuel prices were the increase in the consumption of gasoline by the United States, as seen in its declining stockpile, as well as the depreciation of the peso against the US dollar last week compared to the previous week.