Hefty oil price hike set Tuesday

MANILA: After a big-time rollback last week, oil companies will implement a hefty increase in pump prices starting Tuesday morning. In separate advisories, Caltex, Cleanfuel, Jetti, Petro Gazz, PTT, Seaoil, and Shell said they would increase gasoline prices by PHP1 per liter and PHP1.20 per liter on diesel prices. Caltex, Seaoil, and Shell will also have price increments on kerosene by PHP1 per liter. Other firms are expected to follow suit. Industry experts said the global oil market turned optimistic with the better-than-expected economic data reports in the United States that could signal the US Federal Reserve System to ease its monetary policy, which could boost oil demand. Meanwhile, with the price adjustments last week, Department of Energy (DOE) data showed that gasoline and diesel prices year-to-date had a net increase of PHP7.05 and PHP4.75 per liter, respectively. Kerosene prices, on the other hand, had a net decrement of PHP3.15 per liter. Currently, gasoline prices in Metro Manila range fro m PHP52 to PHP85.52 per liter, PHP49 to PHP72.24 per liter for diesel, and PHP69.49 to PHP80.85 per liter for kerosene. Source: Philippines News Agency