Oil prices were down for the fourth consecutive week as crude took a cue from the European Union’s (EU) announcement it would allow Russian state-owned companies to ship oil to third countries under an adjusted set of sanctions.
According to the Department of Energy (DOE), average Manila price per liter of gasoline (RON95) as of July 19 stood at P75.60, diesel at P79.60 and kerosene at P84.32.
Seaoil cut per liter prices by P0.40 on gasoline, P1.85 on diesel and P1.30 on kerosene.
Clean Fuel adjusted per liter prices downward by P0.40 on gasoline and P1.85 on diesel.
The DOE said as of July 19, year-to-date adjustments on petroleum products summed to a net increase of P19.30 per liter for gasoline, P34.80 per liter for diesel and P29.35 per liter for kerosene.
Reuters reported that as of Friday last week, Brent crude futures settled at $103.20 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $94.70 per barrel.
The report said trading in oil futures have been volatile in recent weeks as traders try to reconcile possibilities of further interest rate hikes that could cut demand against tight supply from the loss of supply from Russia.
Analysts said prices were also held back by worries of interest rate hikes that could slash demand and the resumption of some Libyan crude oil output which is currently at more than 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) but may reach 1.2 million bpd by next month.
Crude prices are also being held off by the outlook on global economy which is likely to be heading into a further slowdown.
