MANILA, Philippines — On Tuesday, April 11, local oil companies in the Philippines announced that they will increase oil prices.
Caltex will raise gasoline prices by P2.60 per liter, diesel by P1.70 per liter, and kerosene by P1.90 per liter at midnight. Shell, Seaoil, Petron, and Flying V will follow suit at 6 am, while Jetti Petroleum, Petro Gazz, and Unioil will increase prices at 6 am. Cleanfuel will adjust prices at 4:01 pm.
The price hike is attributed to the OPEC Plus group, which consists of over 20 countries that are the primary source of oil exports worldwide. They recently announced their plan to reduce oil production by 1.66 million barrels per day to restore oil prices after dropping due to the United States recession.
Economist Michael Ricafort has explained that OPEC Plus members are determined to prevent crude oil prices from decreasing, and reducing oil production is their way of achieving this.
The reduction in oil production by OPEC Plus member countries is scheduled to start next month, and it is expected to cause an increase in the global price of petroleum, which will likely impact the Philippines.
The decrease in demand as many countries enter spring and the opening of the Chinese economy also contribute to the movement of oil prices. However, Regasco has announced that it will decrease the cost of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by P2.50 per liter starting Tuesday due to the decrease in the world contract price of LPG caused by low consumption or demand this summer in Asia.