Shell, Chevron, Eastern Petroleum raise fuel prices Tuesday

MANILA, Philippines—Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Chevron Philippines and Eastern Petroleum Corp. are raising fuel prices again, effective Tuesday, to reflect the continued increase in the prices of oil in the global market.

In separate advisories, the oil companies said they would hike prices of diesel by P1.10 a liter, kerosene by P1 a liter, unleaded gasoline by 30 centavos a liter and of regular gasoline by 60 centavos a liter, effective July 19.

Prior to Tuesday’s increase, domestic prices of diesel products ranged from P42.50 to P47 a liter while gasoline retailed for P51.65 to P58.57 a liter.

Tuesday’s adjustment follows last week’s hefty price hikes of P2 a liter for unleaded gasoline; P1.50 a liter for regular gasoline; and 80 centavos a liter for diesel and kerosene.

Based on the July 12 oil monitor report of the Department of Energy, global oil prices were again on an uptrend as investors bet that the economies of many countries, including the US, would improve in the second half of the year and demand for global petroleum will go up.

The report cited Oil Price Information Service analyst Tom Kloza as saying that gasoline prices would likely remain choppy, rising or falling within a 20-cent range, until next month.

“While most experts agree of ample oil in the world market, there are concerns that supplies could get tight as demand rises. International Energy Agency (IEA) member nations agreed to release 60 million barrels of crude from emergency stocks to cover possible shortfalls caused by the shutdown of Libyan oil production. Libya supplied about 2 percent of the world’s oil, much of it high-grade crude used for refined products like gasoline,” the report explained.

Although prices for crude oil and gasoline dipped on the June 23 announcement of the 60 million barrels additional oil, these, however, have subsequently risen because expanding economies in Asia and South America are bidding up the market price, according to oil industry analysts.

The report further quoted Total CEO Christophe de Margerie as saying that “the trend at the moment is for prices to rise as fundamentals point to more energy demand.” Without speculation, oil prices would still be rising, in part due to geopolitical concerns, he added.