Motorists are in for a bit of relief as fuel prices are set to decrease this week, following two consecutive rounds of increases.
In separate advisories, Seaoil Philippines Corp. and Shell Pilipinas Corp. announced that they will reduce pump prices by P0.10 per liter of gasoline and P0.50 per liter of kerosene. There will be no change in diesel prices this week.
Cleanfuel will apply the same rollback to gasoline but will not adjust kerosene prices, as the brand does not carry the product.
The price rollbacks will take effect at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, April 8, for most fuel companies. Cleanfuel, however, will implement its adjustments a little later, at 8:01 a.m. on the same day.
As of this writing, other fuel companies have yet to release their respective price advisories.
Oil price movements are typically announced by retailers every Monday and take effect the following day.
The Department of Energy – Oil Industry Management Bureau (DOE-OIMB) earlier anticipated potential increases in gasoline and diesel prices, while kerosene prices were seen to either rise or fall. However, developments in the global market shifted the outlook.
According to DOE-OIMB, the expected adjustments are tied to several international factors:
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“United States President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on trading partners including EU, China and Korea, stoking concern that a global trade war may dampen demand for crude.”
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“Oil prices dipped slightly as worries about the impact of the trade war on global growth outweighed concern about a hit to supply from threats by US to impose secondary tariffs on Russian crude.”
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“China’s refineries expected to decline in both March and April, with the peak maintenance season.”
Last week, on April 1, oil firms raised prices by P1.40 per liter for gasoline, and P1.20 for both diesel and kerosene.
The week prior, prices increased by P1.10 per liter for gasoline and P0.40 for diesel and kerosene, making this week’s rollback a modest but welcome change for consumers.
