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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Financial agony persists at gas pumps for the 10th week

Financial agony persists at gas pumps for the 10th week

Published Sep 9, 2023 03:57 am

At A Glance

  • The incessant climb of prices at the domestic pumps - which is now running for the third month - will not calm the nerve of consumers because that will have added pressure eventually on the costs of basic goods and services. 

The financial agony of consumers will persist on their drive to the gasoline stations again next week, as pump prices will be rising for the 10th week, based on the forecast of the oil companies.

As calculated by the industry players, the price of gasoline products will increase by P0.05 to P0.45 per liter; while diesel products will go up by P0.25 to P0.65 per liter; and kerosene products by P0.20 to P0.60 per liter.

The estimated upward price adjustments are relatively leaner next week compared to the previous ones, but it will not still come as a comforting news that the upticks have been relentless for roughly three months already.

The oil firms will adjust their prices on Tuesday (September 12) and it will still be anchored on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the pricing reference of the deregulated downstream oil industry of the country.

Beyond the outcome of last week’s trading in the international market, the added pressure on petroleum price adjustments would be the depreciating value of the Philippine peso versus the US dollar, being the other major determinant on weekly price swings at the pumps.

Prior to the forthcoming round of adjustments, a Department of Energy (DOE) monitoring report has shown that cost movements since the start of the year already logged net increases of P15.30 per liter for gasoline; P10.70 per liter for diesel; and P7.74 per liter for kerosene products.

According to global experts, pricing pressures had been sustained on Saudi Arabia’s plan of extending production cuts; and that was compounded by Russia’s target to also stretch the timeframe for its export curbs.

On top of that, the continuing crude inventory draws of the United States; which is the world’s biggest oil consumer, had aggravated market sentiments of supply strain in the days ahead.

Industry watchers indicated that such events in the global oil markets have driven up international benchmark Brent crude to the $90 per barrel territory as of Friday (September 8) trading; and there are no clear indications yet of near-term easing of the cost uptrends.

For the Philippine oil market, relentless cost escalations at the pumps will not just entail distress in fuel budgets of consumers, but this may also precipitate wider pressure on the economy, including those on transport fares and the costs of basic commodities.

Related Tags

oil price hikes US dollar Department of Energy Mean of Platts Singapore Saudi Arabia
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