A NEW wave of oil price hike looms again! Expected upticks next week in prices of petroleum commodities are forecasted with diesel and kerosene prices having heftier increases, initial calculation of the oil companies indicate.
The price of diesel will rise by P2.45 to P2.65 per liter; while gasoline prices will have a leaner price hike of P0.40 to P0.60 per liter, industry players bare
At the same time, the price of kerosene, which is a commodity beneficial to key industries such as the aviation sector, will climb by a striking P2.60 to P2.80 per liter.
The oil companies will implement their upward price adjustments on Tuesday (August 23) and it will be referenced primarily on cost movements anchored on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the pricing index adopted by the domestic players of the deregulated oil industry.
The seven-week downtrend in domestic pump prices may have temporarily jacked up the daily earnings of the public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers, but the time has come for them to face another episode of price hikes that could worsen anew their financial dilemmas.
Prior to the anticipated price upswings next week, a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE) showed that cost adjustments since the start of the year still incurred net increases of P29.10 per liter for diesel; P24.30 per liter for kerosene; and P17.45 per liter for gasoline products.
Experts noted that prices had been back on the upward trend as economic recession fears failed to totally impair demand trajectory — and that was despite weaker economic data that had been reported recently by China, one of the world’s biggest oil consumers.
International oil prices temporarily plunged in the initial days of trading last week, but lingering concerns of tight supply prompted benchmark Brent crude to settle back to the $96 per barrel level as of Friday (August 19) trading.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in particular, has been blaming insufficient investments as a major factor that had been triggering oil prices to stay at relatively high level – that had been on account of supply concerns lingering as a continuing predicament for markets.
The other major geopolitical factor that had affected pricing fundamentals in the global oil market last week had been the news of a forthcoming nuclear deal with Iran; because the lifting of its sanctions could assure more oil being pumped into markets. (Myrna M. Velasco/ MB)
