Motorists will be able to breathe a little easier this week, with expected reductions on the pump prices of gasoline and diesel. Price monitoring group PH Fuel Watch posted on its Facebook page that gasoline prices are forecast to roll back by Php 2.20 to Php 2.40 per liter. Meanwhile, diesel prices will also be slashed by Php 1.85 to Php 2.00 per liter.
This is the second consecutive fuel price rollback [Image: PH Fuel Watch FB page]
The adjustments will reportedly take effect on 6:00 a.m. of Tuesday, April 5, 2022 and will vary depending on station and location. A previous report quoted PH Fuel Watch as saying that the anticipated price rollbacks for gasoline and diesel this week were at Php 1.81 and Php 0.99 per liter respectively. The price watchdog based its projections on estimates from Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS).
This is the second consecutive fuel price rollback for motorists across the country, and the third overall for the year. Fuel prices went down for the first time in 2022 on March 22, after 11 consecutive weeks of increases.
World oil prices shot up to almost $140 (Php 7,210) per barrel following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, prompting the Department of Energy (DoE) to warn that local gasoline prices could reach up to Php 100 per liter.
The U.S. is releasing its strategic reserves to help bring down oil prices globally
The price of crude oil has tumbled by 8 percent so far on several grounds, among them an ongoing surge of COVID-19 Omicron variant cases in China. Lockdowns are currently being enforced in Shanghai, the country’s most populous urban area, resulting in reduced demand for fuel as citizens are ordered to stay home.
Another factor has been the decision of the U.S. to release up to 180 million barrels of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) over the next six months, to help ease a supply crunch and bring down global fuel prices. The announced release, amounting to around 1 million barrels of oil a day is reportedly the largest since the SPR was created in 1974.
A third development is the cessation of hostilities in the Middle East, particularly between the United Arab Emirates and the Houthi armed group. A truce brokered by the United Nations halts military operations on the border of Saudi and Yemen, easing concerns over global oil supply issues in the meantime.
Get more of our industry-related updates at Philkotse.com.
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