Gasoline, diesel, kerosene prices go up

MANILA, Philippines—Local oil companies raised on Tuesday prices of premium gasoline by 70 centavos a liter and of regular gasoline, diesel and kerosene by 60 centavos a liter, to reflect the continued uptrend in the global oil market.

This was the 10th time this year that companies such as Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Petron Corp., Total Philippines, Chevron and Eastern Petroleum raised prices of petroleum products, as against the three times they rolled back  prices.

As early as March 9, the prices of gasoline reached a high of P61 a liter and a low of P54.35 a liter, according to the monitoring made by the Department of Energy (DoE).

As of Monday, prior to the implementation of the latest adjustment, prices of unleaded gasoline already averaged P58.45 a liter and diesel, P48.70 a liter. Prices of kerosene, meanwhile, ranged from P52.71 a liter to P59.64 a liter.

As of March 19, the year-to-date net increase for gasoline and diesel stood at P5.85 a liter, and P3.20 a liter, respectively.

According to the DoE oil monitor report, the consecutive oil price hikes can still be attributed to an improving US economy, which is expected to further boost demand for fuel supplies, and to fears arising from tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, which could lead to global supply disruptions.

Iran earlier 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.

As of March 19, the Dubai crude stood at $124 a barrel.

Prices of gasoline based on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) benchmark for petroleum products, meanwhile, stood at $138 a barrel as of March 19, while MOPS-based diesel prices reached $139 a barrel.