Oil companies are reducing pump prices of petroleum products for the second consecutive week, driven by the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) announcement the spread of the new coronavirus disease 2019 Delta variant will slow down the recovery of global demand.
According to the Department of Energy, the latest average Manila price per liter of gasoline (RON95) is at P60.70, diesel at P45.05 and kerosene, P50.13.
Seaoil and Shell decreased prices by P0.30 per liter of diesel and P0.40 per liter of kerosene.
Clean Fuel and PTT adjusted prices of diesel products by P0.30 per liter.
There were no price movements on gasoline.
As of August 10, year-to-date adjustments on fuel prices summed up to a net increase of P13.25 per liter for gasoline, P10.40 per liter for diesel and P8.70 per liter for kerosene.
Reuters reported that as of Thursday last week, Brent crude oil futures settled at $71.31 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate crude ended at $69.09 a barrel.
It cited the IEA’s monthly report that rising demand for oil changed course in July and is now set to proceed more slowly for the rest of the year after several countries reinstated travel restrictions.
Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) still sees a strong recovery in global oil demand in 2021 and 2022, despite concerns about the spread of the Delta variant.
OPEC agreed last month to boost its output each month by 400,000 barrels per day starting this month until its record cuts of 10 million barrels per day last year are phased out.
