As expected, other oil firms also rode this week’s wave of price hikes after their rival firms increased fuel prices on Tuesday.

Petron Corp. followed suit at past midnight Wednesday, raising its diesel and kerosene prices by P1 a liter.

The company also hiked its prices of premium gasoline by P0.50 a liter.

Meanwhile, independent oil firm Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, a major player in Mindanao and a relatively new player in Metro Manila, also raised pump prices at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Phoenix Petroleum Spokesperson Raymond Zorilla said that it increased itsr diesel prices by P1 a liter and gasoline prices by P0.50 a liter.

The latest price adjustments on fuel were led Tuesday morning by another independent firm, Seaoil Philippines.

Seaoil jacked up prices of diesel and kerosene by P1 a liter; regular gasoline by P0.75 a liter, and premium and unleaded gasoline by P0.50 a liter.

Oil giant Chevron Philippines (formerly Caltex), on the other hand, hiked its retail prices for gasoline by half a peso, also on Tuesday.

It was gathered that Eastern Petroleum Philippines, yet another independent oil firm, also implemented increases worth P1 a liter on diesel and kerosene and P0.50 a liter on gasoline.

The oil companies said the price tweaks were made to reflect movements in the world market.

World market figures released by the Department of Energy (DoE) show that each barrel of gasoline currently has an average price tag of $86.50. Diesel stands at $92 per barrel.