Oil companies are hiking pump prices of petroleum products for the fifth consecutive week on expectations demand growth will outpace available supply and as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies continue to be cautious in returning to normal production levels.
According to the Department of Energy, the latest average Manila price per liter of gasoline (RON95) is at P49.95, diesel at P38.80 and kerosene, P49.40.
Seaoil and Caltex increased prices by P1 per liter of gasoline, P0.65 per liter of diesel and P0.70 per liter of kerosene.
PTT and Clean Fuel, adjusted the prices of gasoline and diesel products upward by P1 per liter and P0.65 per liter, respectively.
As of June 22, year-to-date adjustments on fuel prices summed up to a net increase of P10.75 per liter for gasoline, P9.25 per liter for diesel and P7.70 per liter for kerosene.
Reuters reported that as of Friday last week, Brent crude futures settled at $76.18 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate ended at $74.05 a barrel and were the highest closes for both benchmarks since October 2018.
The report said the trend of the increase will be directly affected by the meeting set by OPEC and its allies on July 1 and the amount of production that it will boost to cater growing demand for fuel.
Analysts also claim that among the factors being considered by the group include the strong growth in demand in the US, Europe and China due to almost completed vaccine rollouts.
