Oil firms cut fuel prices

INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines – Oil firms operating in the Philippines lowered pump prices for the second week in a row amid lingering weakness in the price of refined petroleum products abroad.

Petron, Shell, Seaoil, and PTT Philippines said in separate announcements that they were set to roll back prices by P0.90 per liter on diesel, P0.85/L on gasoline, and P1.10/L on kerosene by 12:01 a.m. Jan. 13 (Monday).

Phoenix Petroleum said it would implement similar price adjustments for diesel and gasoline from 6 a.m. on Jan. 13. This is to reflect the “continued decline in the prices of refined petroleum products in the world market,” Phoenix Petroleum said.

Other oil firms have yet to announce their fuel adjustments. Generally, however, oil firms track each other’s prices as most of the fuel products in the country come from imports.

The adjustments make up the second round of rollbacks for the year. As such, major fuel products gasoline and diesel have so far decreased by P1.35/L for diesel and P0.85/L for gasoline.

The first set of price cuts was implemented on Jan 7. with kerosene prices rolled back by P0.25 per liter and diesel prices by P0.45 per liter.

Two weeks of rollbacks greeted the year 2014 amid persistent sell-offs in crude oil. While oil futures rebounded slightly on Jan. 10 on reports of record-high Chinese crude imports in Dec. 2013, a weaker dollar, and lower US jobless figures. However, week-on-week, oil futures still proved lower, analysts said. While it seems the downtrend invites purchases there is still a chance for depressed prices this week if traders feel the market has not hit bottom.

Looking ahead, traders will be watching oil inventories and how the severe cold spell in the US affects supply and demand, analysts said.