For the second consecutive week, local oil players slashed their prices today on lower global crude costs after Brent slid to its biggest daily loss in more than 11 years last Friday.
According to the Department of Energy (DOE), the latest average Manila price per liter of gasoline (RON95) is at P49.97, diesel at P37.97 and kerosene at P41.12.
Shell and Seaoil brought down the prices of gasoline by P1.20 per liter, diesel by P0.75 per liter and kerosene by P1.05 per liter.
Phoenix and PTT also reduced the cost of gasoline by P1.20 per liter and diesel by P0.75 per liter.
Most oil firms implemented the rollback today but some adjusted the prices yesterday and over the weekend.
The DOE said as of March 3, year-to-date adjustments stand at net decreases of P3.90 per liter for gasoline, P6 per liter for diesel and P7.24 per liter for kerosene.
Reuters reported that as of Friday last week, Brent futures had its biggest daily percentage fall since December 2008, a 9.4 percent decline to settle at $45.27 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 10.1 percent to $41.28, its lowest close since August 2016.
According to the report, the dispute among members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies on their next move amid the further spread of COVID-19 has greatly affected global prices.
“Prices plunged because the OPEC confab ended up being an epic fail on the part of all involved. Russia has clearly decided to employ a scorched earth approach to the oil market: every country for itself,” John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York, said in the report.
During a meeting last week, OPEC officials are pushing for an additional 1.5 million barrels per day of cuts until the end of 2020 but Russia, its biggest non-member ally, is not keen on participating.
OPEC secretary general Mohammad Barkindo indicated however there will be more informal meetings on the proposed cuts in coming weeks.
