Big fuel price increase seen next week — DOE

Angelica Y. Yang - Philstar.com MANILA, Philippines — Consumers may have to pay more for their fuel next week after the Department of Energy (DOE) said Friday that there will likely be a large increase in pump prices due to developments affecting the global oil market, where the Philippines mainly gets its supply from. Gas may experience an increase of P3.50 per liter, while diesel may rise by P4.54 per liter, Director of the DOE's Oil Industry Management Bureau Rino Abad confirmed in an interview with Dobol B TV on Friday. "We confirm that there will be a bit of a large increase [in fuel prices] next week...[But] I cannot say for certain how large the increase will be. The oil price movements are dictated by the Mean of Platts Singapore," Abad said in Tagalog, referring to the pricing yardstick for refined oil products in Southeast Asia. A barrel of oil in April 11 cost $117.45, but the figure went up to $128.11 in April 21. Abad attributed the projected increase to the halt in the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, talks of banning Russia's energy exports, and the relaxation of lockdowns in China's financial hub Shanghai. Sentiments and speculations trigger oil price adjustments, the DOE earlier said. "The DOE is closely monitoring global oil supply and price movements, in coordination with our downstream oil industry players. We are working to exhaust all measures that would help uphold consumer welfare during this challenging period," DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi said in a statement over Viber. As it stands, domestic oil companies only announced price rollbacks for gas, diesel and kerosene products for three times this year. The reductions were not able to, however, offset the fuel price increases recorded since the start of 2022. Pump prices have been increasing for the most part this year due to global supply issues, partly worsened by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Based on data collected from the announcements of local oil firms since the start of the year, the price adjustments of oil products are as follows: P15.45 per liter for gasoline, P27.35 per liter for diesel and P21.55 per liter for kerosene. Earlier, the Philippine government doubled the fuel subsidies for affected sectors to P6.1 billion in efforts to help members of the transportation and agriculture industries cushion the impact of the fuel price hikes.

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