• CHERYL G. CRUZ
After two straight weeks of rollbacks, the pump prices of petroleum products will increase anew, effective Aug. 18, oil companies announced over the weekend.
Prices of diesel can increase from P4 to P5:10 per liter, gasoline by P2.50 to P3/L, and kerosene by P5 to P5.90/L. The exact adjustments will be known today, Aug. 17.
“Concerns over continued drawdown of global inventories in an already-tight market due to constrained Middle East Gulf flows and Black Sea exports have further supported prices, while the prospect of sanctions-related disruptions could further tighten global crude availability,” Jetti Energy was quoted as saying in a Philippine News Agency report.
Effective Aug. 11, prices of diesel were slashed by P4.30/L, gasoline by P4.70/L, and kerosene by P4.88/L, and by P0.60/L, P0.73/L, and P2.09/L, respectively, the week prior, following reports of supposed peace talks resumption between the US and Iran.
The report noted that oil prices in the international market increased “as optimism for a peace deal and near-term reopening of the Strait of Hormuz traffic faded, with markets becoming more skeptical as negotiations are now further complicated by competing demands for compensation over the five-month conflict.”
Diesel and gasoline prices surged as “diplomatic efforts to reopen and normalize transit through the Strait of Hormuz have stalled, and the continued decline of global product inventories due to refinery output disruptions is keeping markets tighter than crude,” it added. | CGC
