Hefty Fuel Hike Greets Consumers

MANILA, Philippines — After dealing with small price adjustments the past few weeks, consumers woke up to hefty increases on pump prices on Tuesday.

At 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, big oil players Pilipinas Shell and Petron Corp. raised all its gasoline and kerosene prices by P1.25 a liter and diesel prices by P1 a liter.

The other oil giant, Chevron Philippines (formerly Caltex), imposed similar price adjustments on its products at 6 a.m.

Meanwhile, independent oil player Phoenix Petroleum Philippines announced price hikes worth P1.25 and P1 on their retail prices of gasoline and diesel, respectively. The increase was implemented also at past midnight.

Tuesday’s fuel price adjustment was also the second hike in as many weeks – big and small oil companies added P0.50 a liter on gasoline and another P0.25 a liter on kerosene and diesel last October 5.

Prior to that, domestic fuel prices went up and down for the whole of September, mostly by increments no more than P0.50 a liter.

Oil firms said that the latest price tweak was made to reflect movements in the international market. On Tuesday, however, oil prices fell below $82 a barrel in Asia, a drop of roughly 45 cents from $82.21 the previous day.

But it was noted that last month the price of crude oil per barrel breached its yearlong trading range of $70, largely due to the weakening of the dollar against major currencies, including the peso.

According to sources in the local oil industry, the price increases for this week should have reached as much as P1.50 a liter but were ultimately pulled down to P1 to P1.25 thanks to the peso’s appreciation against the dollar. As mid afternoon on Tuesday, the peso slightly dipped in value, trading between P43.53 and P47.74 from an intraday high of P43.32 the day before.

In an interview, Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA) chairman Fernando Martinez said that an increase or decrease of P1 in foreign exchange rate has a proportional impact of P0.18 per liter to fuel prices.

The latest hike bumped up the average retail price of fuel in Metro Manila to as follows: gasoline (unleaded), P43.50; diesel, P34 and kerosene, P43.50.

Ellson Quismoro, Manila Bulletin