Price of gasoline up for 6th consecutive week

Oil companies reduced the prices of diesel and kerosene but hiked that of gasoline effective on Tuesday, April 23. Per liter, diesel and kerosene decreased by 95 centavos and P1.10, respectively, while gasoline rose by 55 centavos effective at 6 a.m., based on separate advisories issued by oil firms. This marked the sixth consecutive time that firms raised the price of gasoline. Rino Abad, director of the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau, said they did not expect industry players to roll back pump prices due to prevailing geopolitical tensions. “There is a correction in the market because no actual market disruption occurred after the missile attacks between Israel and Iran,” Abad said at the government’s Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon television program. But he added that there was no assurance price decreases would be sustained in the coming weeks. “It is not certain if the rollbacks will continue. We did not expect this because of the prevailing trend caused by these events—production cut of Opec (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), conflict in the Middle East,” said Abad. Last week, there were hefty increases in pump prices per liter with gasoline going up by 40 centavos, diesel by 95 centavos and kerosene by 85 centavos.