TACLOBAN CITY – Several oil firms in the Philippines are set to implement a considerable increase in fuel prices on Tuesday, April 11, following the Saudi-led Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia's cut in production by 1.66 million barrels per day.
The price hike is due to the global increase in oil prices, which are now being passed on to consumers in the Philippines.
Caltex, Shell, Seaoil, Jetti Petroleum, Petro Gazz, and Cleanfuel have confirmed that they will implement the price hikes on Tuesday. Caltex will start at 12:01 a.m., while the others will begin at 6 a.m., except for Cleanfuel, which will start at 4:01 p.m.
The mentioned oil firms will increase their gasoline prices by P2.60 per liter, diesel prices by P1.70 per liter, and kerosene prices by P1.90 per liter.
Other oil firms are expected to follow suit and announce similar price hikes. The increase in fuel prices has pushed inflation to 14-year highs in recent months, affecting the prices of goods and services in the country.
However, independent LPG vendor Regasco has announced a price cut by P2.50 per liter starting Tuesday, citing the world contract price of LPG, which has gone down due to low consumption following the end of winter in Asia.
Despite the oil price hike, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno downplayed the impact of the OPEC production cuts on inflation. He said he still expects inflation to have already peaked. However, the continuous increase in fuel prices may still affect the prices of other goods and services in the country. —iTacloban