• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Another round of fuel price hike will take effect tomorrow as supply concerns remain.
Oil companies announced over the weekend that diesel could increase by P0.80 to P1 per liter, gasoline by P0.10 to P0.50/L, and kerosene by P0.70 to P1/L.
The exact adjustments will be known today, Nov. 10.
This will be the sixth consecutive week of gasoline price hikes, and the third for diesel and kerosene, following upward adjustments of P1.70/L, P2.70/L, and P2.10/L, respectively, effective Nov. 4.
“While crude price benchmarks have eased down slightly week-on-week as demand weakened due to significant refinery turnarounds and worries of a potential supply glut, prices of refined fuel products have remained elevated due to supply concerns,” Jetti Petroleum president Leo Bellas said in a recent Philippine News Agency report.
He added that the price of diesel at the Asian benchmark, the Mean of Platts Singapore, rose, and attributed this to tightening supply due to reduced outflows from Northeast Asia amid refinery maintenance shutdowns.
“Inventories remain on the lean side as major regional refiners could potentially reduce output should producers lose access to cheaper Russian crude,” Bellas was quoted as saying. “Also, gasoline supply concerns due to planned refinery turnarounds and unplanned outages in the region have put a floor on prices.” | CGC
