Oil companies raised their prices after a rollback last week.
Seaoil raised per liter prices by P1.20 on gasoline, P1.40 on diesel and P1.30 on kerosene.
Phoenix Petroleum, Clean Fuel and Jetti adjusted per liter prices upward by P1.20 on gasoline and by P1.40 on diesel.
Today’s adjustments were mainly caused by the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to limit combined oil production to 40.463 million barrels per day (bpd) for 2024.
Saudi Arabia, the group’s most dominant member, also decided to implement an additional voluntary one-month 1 million bpd cut starting next month which the country said can be extended depending on market developments.
Data from the Department of Energy (DOE) as of June 6 showed the latest average Manila price per liter of gasoline (RON95) is at P60.30, diesel at P53.25 and kerosene at P66.67.
DOE data also showed year-to-date adjustments stood at a total net decrease of P5.35 per liter for diesel and P7.35 per liter for kerosene but a net increase of P5.50 per liter for gasoline.
Reuters reported that as of Friday last week, Brent crude futures settled at $74.79 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate crude ended at $70.17 per barrel.
The same report also quoted analysts as saying the increase could have been higher if not for the rise in US fuel stocks paired with weak Chinese export data.
Rodela Romero, DOE assistant director of the oil industry management bureau, said at the Laging Handa public briefing yesterday, the Philippines is dependent on fuel imports and has no control over world market prices.
“We don’t have control since we are a net importer of crude oil and finished products. We import all of it although we have a small production from our sole refinery. We are just a price taker,” Romero explained. -Jed Macapagal
