Pump prices up today

MANILA, Philippines — Motorists should expect a fuel price hike of over P2 per liter today, while households may see liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices rise to up to P1,700 this month.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin yesterday announced a price increase of P2.21 per liter for gasoline and P2.66 per liter for diesel.

Meanwhile, LPG prices climbed by P1.22 per kilo, adding about P13.42 to the cost of an 11-kilo cylinder. Kerosene prices, on the other hand, went down by P3.53 per liter.

Garin said the weakening of the peso exerted upward pressure on oil prices, as the local currency slipped to an all-time low of 61.567 against the dollar last week.

This week’s price movements ended three consecutive weeks of diesel rollbacks.

“Now, it seems like it’s steadying at a certain pace and hopefully, it stays like that,” Garin said, adding that the Department of Energy (DOE) cannot guarantee minimal price movements every week.

In Metro Manila and highly urbanized areas, gasoline, diesel and kerosene are now sold for as much as P102.16, P107.11 and P146.47 per liter, respectively.

As of May 1, the country’s fuel stocks were sufficient for 53.71 days, according to the latest DOE data.

Gasoline had 52.64 days’ worth of stocks, diesel at 54.58 days, kerosene at 166.67 days, jet fuel at 71.14 days, fuel oil at 62.69 days and LPG at 40.46 days.

“We have 53 days on average to find replenishment for what we consume,” Garin said.

Although negotiations with other countries are still ongoing, the DOE is not yet planning to procure additional diesel supplies due to limited storage capacity.

“At the moment, there’s no need to place another order. First, there is already enough supply. Second, even if we add more, we don’t have storage facilities that can accommodate another million liters,” Garin said.

“So we’re just timing it. In the future, there could be government-to-government deals to accommodate different types of diesel, gasoline and other products, simply to serve as our buffer,” she added.

All four shipments procured by the Philippine National Oil Co. already arrived in the Philippines, delivering over 178.33 million liters of diesel to strengthen the country’s existing stockpiles.