Local oil players have implemented a second straight week of price rollback for petroleum products.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (DOE) noted no fuel supply constraints in the country despite the implementation of power alert levels in the Luzon Grid yesterday.
Seaoil lowered per liter prices by P0.85 for gasoline, P3.95 for diesel and P2.65 for kerosene.
PTT and Phoenix Petroleum also adjusted per liter prices downward by P0.85 for gasoline and P3.95 for diesel.
Today’s adjustments were mainly attributed to continuing concerns on weakened fuel demand in China as well as the impending price cap on oil from Russia.
As of November 22, the DOE pegged the latest average Manila price per liter of gasoline (RON95 at P70.10, diesel at P76.15 and kerosene, P83.18.
The DOE also said year-to-date adjustments in petroleum products stand at a total net increase of P17.75 per liter for gasoline, P33.85 per liter for diesel and P27.85 per liter for kerosene.
Reuters reported that as of Friday last week, Brent crude futures went down by 2 percent ending at $83.63 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures slowed down by 2.1 percent and settled at $76.28 per barrel.
The report said China’s continued enforcement of mobility measures to control pandemic outbreaks is starting to hit fuel demand, pulling down global crude prices.
It added that prices are also being dragged with the current discussions between G7 and European Union diplomats for a Russian oil price cap between $65 and $70 a barrel, in a bid to limit revenues to fund Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine without disrupting global oil markets.
Meanwhile, the DOE said the alert level was raised after 2,648 megawatts (MW) worth of capacity became unavailable in the grid due to forced outage and deration of several power plants.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) declared yesterday yellow alert in the Luzon Grid from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 6 to 9 p.m. and red alert from 5 to 6 p.m.
Yellow alerts are issued when the level of power reserve in the grid is low while red alerts are declared when actual power supply against demand is insufficient and power interruptions are imminent.
However, the red alert was lifted by NGCP by noon although it retained the yellow alert in the Luzon Grid from 3 to 7 p.m.
“We assure the public that there appears to be no fuel constraints. Some of these generating plants are on forced outage caused by power plant tripping,” said Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla in a statement.
The DOE said it immediately advised the Manila Electric Co. to run its interruptible load program (ILP) to prevent possible power supply disruptions.
Under the ILP, customers with large electricity consumption are encouraged to run their own generator sets whenever supply of electricity in the grid is short in exchange for monetary incentives.
The fuel they use in running their own power source are then paid by consumers.
Meralco said as of 11:30 a.m. yesterday, 346.40 MW worth of capacity has been committed for de-loading under the ILP. – Jed Macapagal
