Fuel prices are set to increase today, July 22, driven by a weakening Philippine peso against the US dollar and elevated premium costs linked to geopolitical tensions in the Red Sea, a crucial route for crude oil shipments.
Most oil companies have announced that gasoline prices would rise by P0.40 per liter, diesel by P1.10 per liter, and kerosene by P0.70 per liter.
These adjustments reflect current volatility on global oil markets and in currency exchange rates.
Caltex, however, will implement slightly different increases: P0.20 per liter for gasoline, P0.75 per liter for diesel, and P0.50 centavos per liter for kerosene.
Seaoil and Caltex will adjust prices across all three fuel types. Clean Fuel will implement price changes for gasoline and diesel but does not offer kerosene.
Leo Bellas, president of Jetti Petroleum Inc., said the price increase could have been higher if not for weaker global diesel prices last week.
Caltex and Seaoil will implement increases across all three fuel types. Clean Fuel, PTT and Jetti will cut prices for gasoline and diesel as they do not offer kerosene products.
The adjustments are scheduled to take effect at 6:00 am for Seaoil, 6:01 am for Caltex, and 4:01 pm for Clean Fuel.
“While the actual difference in the week-on-week MOPS (Mean of Platts Singapore) averages of diesel is actually minimal and a negative on gasoline, the depreciation of
the Philippine peso versus the US dollar this week is one of the main factors for the larger potential hike in domestic prices,” Bellas said in a message over the weekend.
These increases follow an upward price adjustment last week, when most local fuel firms raised prices by P0.70 per liter for gasoline, P1.40 for diesel, and P0.80 for kerosene, ending two consecutive weeks of rollbacks.
Caltex is currently the only local fuel retailer that implements price adjustments twice a week. Last week, Caltex’s total fuel price hikes amounted to P0.55 for gasoline, P1.05 for diesel, and P0.70 for kerosene, implemented in two tranches on Tuesday and Thursday.
Including today’s price movements, year-to-date prices show a net increase of P9.40 per liter for gasoline, P12.45 per liter for diesel, and P2.55 per liter for kerosene.
Department of Energy data for the period of July 15 to 21 showed that average per-liter prices in the National Capital Region were P53.10 for RON 91 gasoline, P54.60 for diesel, and P72.80 for kerosene.
