Independent oil players lead price rollback

Independent oil players led another wave of price cuts across fuel products starting yesterday morning.

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. said it rolled back gasoline prices by P0.15 per liter and diesel prices by P0.30 per liter early yesterday.

At the same time, Seaoil Philippines Inc. also lowered pump prices by P0.15 per liter for gasoline and P0.30 per liter for both diesel and kerosene.

“This is to reflect movements in the international petroleum market,” Seaoil said.

Other oil companies have yet to announce their respective fuel price adjustments. However, Unioil Philippines said motorists should expect fuel prices to roll back next week again. It added: “Diesel should decrease by P0.30 per liter while gasoline should decrease by P0.10-0.20 per liter.”

This is the 10th consecutive week of reduction for diesel and kerosene.

During this trading week, Brent crude briefly fell below $60 per barrel due to high inventories, Reuters reported. The slower Chinese economic data also dragged prices down, pointing to lower fuel demand since the country is the world’s biggest oil importer.