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By Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo, Reporter
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Total
(Philippines) Corp. opted not to follow other oil companies that are
holding off on price increases. The two firms increased diesel and
kerosene prices early Saturday.
In a text message to The Manila Times, Shell
spokesman Bobby Kanapi, said his company increased the prices “due
to the continuous unrecovered cost of diesel and kerosene.”
Total, in a separate announcement, said it also
implemented the same level of increase for its diesel and kerosene
products.
A day before Shell and Total’s price increase,
oil firms belonging to the Independent Philippine Petroleum
Companies Association said the weekly price hikes being implemented
at the pump may be put on hold for at least two weeks because of
decreasing world oil prices.
Other large oil firms Petron Corp. and Chevron (Caltex)
Philippines Inc. have not increased pump prices as of press time.
But Raffy Ledesma, Petron’s strategic
communications manager, said the country’s largest oil refiner
would be monitoring in the next few days to see whether the trend of
declining oil prices will be sustained before making any price
adjustment.
Data from the Department of Energy showed that
prior to the adjustment, diesel prices in Metro Manila ranged from
P55.98 to P57.97 per liter; kerosene from P59.41 to P63.30; and
unleaded gasoline from P59.10 to P61.57 per liter.
World prices slide further
Oil prices resumed their move downward Friday
(Saturday in Manila) on indications that demand is sagging amid
slowing economies and fresh signs of rising supply.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude
for September delivery, dropped $2.23 to close at $123.26 a barrel.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for September
fell $1.92 to settle at $125.02.
The benchmark New York contract has lost nearly
$25 since striking an all-time high level of $147.27 on July 11.
This week alone it shed $5.62.
Prices had risen Thursday in what traders
described as a technical rebound following two days of heavy falls.
But the bears reappeared, analysts said, upon
indications that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC), the cartel that produces 40 percent of the
world’s crude, was boosting supply despite softening demand.
“Saudi output is rising. Petrologistics
reported that OPEC oil production is expected to rise by 200,000
barrels a day to a whopping 32.9 million barrels of oil a day,”
said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading.
“Saudi production will rise to 13 million
barrels of oil a day. The amazing thing about that is they are
already having a hard time selling what they have.”
Oil prices have shot to a series of record highs
after crossing $100 at the beginning of the year on concerns about
supply stoked in part by geopolitical tensions over Iran’s nuclear
program and unrest in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer.
But most recently prices have eased as concerns
mount about demand in the face of prolonged weakness in the US
economy, the world’s biggest energy consumer.
On Wednesday, crude futures had skidded some $4
after a bigger-than-expected increase in US gasoline reserves
heightened demand worries.
“The slide in crude [futures from recent
highs] has been primarily driven by concerns of weaker demand as a
result of higher prices, as economic problems persist,” said
Michael Davies at the Sucden brokerage in London.
“Originally these fears focused on the US,
with data there showing significantly lower demand for gasoline, but
economic data has started to point to problems in Europe and slower
growth in the key drivers of oil demand growth: China and India.”
-- With AFP
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