By Juzel L. Danganan
MANILA, Aug. 24 (PNA) – Oil firms will reduce prices on Tuesday, for the ninth consecutive week.
In separate advisories on Monday, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (PSPC), Petron Corp., Seaoil Philippines Inc. (SPI), Phoenix Petroleum Philippines and PTT Philippines said they will cut gas prices by Php 1.10 per liter and diesel prices by 40 centavos per liter.
PSPC, Petron and Seaoil will apply the price changes at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, while Phoenix Petroleum and PTT Philippines’ new rates will take effect at 6 a.m. on August 25.
Meanwhile, Eastern Petroleum said it will slash its gas prices by Php 1.15 per liter and diesel by 45 centavos per liter. The rollbacks will be implemented at 6 p.m. on Monday.
According to the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) oil price monitor last week, the current prices of oil firms for diesel are Php 23.85-27.20 per liter in Metro Manila. It has a common price of Php 25.05 per liter.
Gasoline, on the other hand, was sold from Php 37.95 per liter to Php 44.25 per liter. It has a common price of Php 42.75.
The DOE data also show that diesel prices went down by Php 3.49 while gasoline had a net increase of Php 1.46 per liter during the year.
The international markets still has not recovered from the global oil glut, which was caused by the entry of shale oil in 2013 that further peaked in 2014.
Last week, U.S. oil prices continued to slide as lower demand was expected from second largest oil consumer China.
American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) has already plunged below USD 41 per barrel. (PNA)