Fuel prices are expected to drop across all products this week, ranging from P0.50 to P0.70 per liter for gasoline and P1.50 to P1.70 per liter for diesel, based on the full five days of crude trading last week, Jetti Petroleum Inc. said.
Production increases from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies have influenced the price adjustments set to be imposed by local fuel retailers on Tuesday, Jetti Petroleum President Leo Bellas told reporters in a message over the weekend.
Bellas added that prolonged uncertainty on the US tariffs, as well as the prospect for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war also pulled down global crude prices.
“Recent developments that raised expectations for a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine have also caused oil prices to weaken further. Putting pressure on Asian diesel and gasoline price markers is the increasing supply from China as Chinese refiners ramp up production,” he also said.
The Jetti official added that this week’s price rollback could have been bigger if not for the larger-than-expected draw in US crude oil stockpiles, which is an indicator of “healthy demand from the world’s biggest economy…”
“Geopolitical risks and evolving US trade policy however, continue to add uncertainty and are still clouding the broader demand picture,” Bellas explained.
Earlier, DOE Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rodela Romero said that based on a four-day trading monitoring of prices last week, kerosene products could also be reduced — by P1.20 per liter.
The price range projection for kerosene this week could not yet be established pending completion of the full five-day trading monitoring of global crude prices last week.
Prior to the price rollbacks scheduled for this week, fuel retailers have implemented per liter price hikes last week equivalent to P1.90 per liter for gasoline, P1.20 for diesel and P1 for kerosene.
Year-to-date prices now amount to a net increase of P11.20 per liter for gasoline, P14.25 per liter for diesel and P3.95 per liter for kerosene.
For the period August 5 to 11, Department of Energy data showed that average per-liter prices in the National Capital Region stood at P55.30 for RON 91 gasoline, P56 for diesel, and P74.90 for kerosene.
