Another big fuel hike this week

Prices at the pumps will be on the upswing again this week as diesel prices are expected to increase by 11.30-11.35 per liter, while gasoline is expected to increase by 11.35 to 11.40 per liter.

Kerosene, another major commodity used by households, is expect-

ed to increase by 1 1.30 per liter. The oil companies are expected to adjust their prices by Tuesday (February 26).

The rally in domestic oil prices will be the seventh since January as a result of continuing rise in global prices. Aside from fuel, the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is also expected to increase next month.

The cost swing in cooking fuel follows the pricing trend in international prices as benchmarked on Saudi Aramco, which is generally the pricing reference for Asian markets. Based on a monitoring report of the Department of Energy (DOE), prices in the world market jacked up last week, partly due to an outage at Saudi Arabia’s offshore oilfield.

That aggravated concerns on tightening supply due to production cut enforced by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its Russian-led ally oil producers. Supply is being curbed further by sanctions by the United States on Venezuelan and Iranian crude as well as reduced Libyan output due to array of geopolitical factors, the DOE report added.