PRICES OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS SEEN TO STAY STABLE FOR THE REST OF 2017

Oil prices are seen to remain relatively stable for the remainder of 2017 as crude prices are projected to end the year within the range of $50 to $60 a barrel, according to economist Bernardo M. Villegas.

“We will not see $100 (per barrel of) oil anymore,” Villegas yesterday told a forum organized by energy consulting firm Poyry Philippines.

According to OilPrice.com, crude prices were hovering at about $52 per barrel as of yesterday.

Villegas, who serves as senior vice president of the University of Asia and the Pacific, also said hedid not expect the peso to weaken significantly in the next twomonths.

“The worst we can expect is P52:$1 at the end of this year,” he said.

In the latest weekly round of pump price adjustments, local oil firms raised prices of diesel and gasoline following mixed movements last week.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global oil refinery throughput for the fourth quarter of 2017 was expected to rise by 100,000 barrels per day against the third-quarter level.

“For the fourth quarter of 2017, our refinery throughput forecast edges up to 80.9 mil- lion barrels per day (mb/d), up 0.1 mb/d quarter-on-quarter,” the IEA said in a market report.

“Our first forecast for January 2018 implies 1.2 mb/d year-on-year growth, although runs decline by 0.4 mb/d from December to just under 82 mb/d,” the agency added.

Over the past two weeks, fuel retailers in the Philippines have made changes in different directions in the pump prices of petroleum products.

As for ongoing efforts to rebalance the global supply and demand in the oil market, particularly crude, the IEA said a detailed analysis of the global balance showed that in 2017, each quarter except the first quarter would showa deficit.