4 Oil Companies Implement Hike on Gas and Diesel Prices

Manila — Shell, Petron, Total and PTT Philippines have implemented an increase in their gasoline prices by 45 centavos per liter and diesel by 10 centavos per liter effective 6:00 am Tuesday.

Shell also announced that their kerosene prices had not moved from its earlier rate.

Also, Petron cited a rollback on their Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by 10 centavos per kilo, while a similar decrease on their Auto-LPG product by 6 centavos per liter.

Earlier, Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Zenaida Monsada mentioned that the international oil trade was affected by the massive purchase of Indonesia in preparation for Ramadan, having the highest Muslim population in the world, instantly causing a diminished supply due to high demand. Usually, Indonesians purchase fuel products for their stock during Ramadan as oil companies are closed during the fasting month.

She also said that the chaos in Iraq is causing the international markets to panic, although the civil war is found in the northern region and not in the country’s trading hub in the south. The market worries are similar to the previous encounters in Syria and Ukraine.

The Philippines is dependent on foreign nations for its oil supply, since it had conducted five rounds of Philippine Energy Contracting Rounds (PECR) which enables companies to bid for oil and gas service contracts.

The DOE is looking for more areas in the archipelago in which locally-sourced oil could be extracted from.

Currently, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude Oil is priced at USD 105.37 per barrel and the Brent Crude Oil at 112.36 USD per barrel. (PNA) LAM/JLD