By Kris Crismundo/PNA
MANILA — A PHP0.70-per-liter increase in the prices of both diesel and gasoline will greet motorists on Tuesday, February 19, as local oil companies keep up with movements in the world crude market.
Meantime, kerosene will also go up but by a more modest PHP0.35 per liter.
The tightening of oil supply in the world market is causing global benchmark Brent crude oil to rise, industry experts said.
At the start of the year, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) began reducing its daily output to 1.2 million barrels to pinch global supply and keep oil prices from further sliding.
In the local market, the currency depreciation is also helping the upward push in pump prices.
The peso closed last week at 52.43 to a dollar, shedding from its 52.38 finish last Thursday.
The energy department’s oil monitoring showed that as of February 12, a year-to-date net increase of PHP1.50 per liter on gasoline products was recorded, PHP2.30 per liter on diesel, and PHP1.70 per liter on kerosene.
