A MIXED bag of price adjustments at the pumps is expected next week, according to the estimates of the oil companies. However, the cost swings will just be very marginal.
It is projected by the industry players that the price of gasoline products may not change or there would be very marginal rollback of P0.10 per liter; while diesel prices will rise by P0.20 to P0.50 per liter.
The price of kerosene, on the other, will also track moderate uptrend of P0.30 to P0.60 per liter, based on the calculation of the oil firms.
If reckoned solely on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) index, the anticipated adjustments would be P0.079 per liter rollback for gasoline products; P0.204 per liter hike for diesel; and P0.406 per liter increase for kerosene products.
The oil companies will be implementing the fresh round of cost movements on Tuesday (November 28) based on the routine price adjustments being enforced in the deregulated downstream oil industry.
Prior to the forthcoming round of price swings, a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE) has shown that prices since the start of the year still logged net increases of P12.30 per liter for gasoline; P5.70 per liter for diesel; and P1.09 per liter for kerosene.
The blend of price adjustments in the domestic oil industry next week will serve as a pause to the successive four weeks of rollback that somehow took the edge off on the pockets of Filipino consumers since last month.
As of last week’s trading outcome in the international market, there were no major developments which exerted significant pressure on prices, hence, the cost fluctuations were not really that extensive.
There will also be added days of respite because the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their partner-producers (OPEC) had rescheduled their meeting to November 30, instead of November 26, with market watchers noting that their members cannot agree yet on targeted production levels.
For Filipino consumers, the general wish is for oil prices to stay tamed in the remaining weeks of the year, especially so since most will be coughing up added expenses for the lengthy Christmas holiday celebrations and gatherings. (with reports from Myrna M. Velasco/MB)
