The Department of Energy (DOE) expects another mixed oil price movement next week amid the ongoing geopolitical concerns and uncertainty in the Middle East.
DOE Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB) director Rodela Romero said that based on the 4-day trading, another mixed movement will be experienced next week with gasoline increasing by P0.15 to P0.45 per liter and diesel by P0.10 to P0.40 per liter and kerosene.
Meanwhile, kerosene may have a price rollback of P0.20 to P0.30 per liter.
Romero said several factors influenced the movement of prices in the world oil market such as S & P Global Commodity Insights’ 2025 Energy Outlook report that global primary energy demand is expected to rise by eight million barrels per day by 2025.
She said the geopolitical volatility in the Middle East with recent Syria’s upheaval resulted in a brief price surge but was quickly eclipsed by concerns over China’s weak demand.
Romero said another factor is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) delays in reviving or increasing output to avoid a supply glut until April 2025.
Meanwhile, Jetti Petroleum president Leo Bellas said that based on their computation, diesel may increase from P0.30 to P0.50 per liter and gasoline by P0.50 to p0.70 per liter.
“While concerns have eased, the development in Syria introduced greater uncertainty to the Middle East, driving oil prices up. Further supporting oil prices is the threat of tightening global crude supplies as the European Union agreed to impose further sanctions on Russia,” Bellas said.
“Prices also found support on China’s vow to ramp up policy stimulus as this could boost demand. – Asian diesel and gasoline prices found support from the limited exports from China and South Korea to the region but gains are capped as the supply gap is partly offset by swing supplies from India,” he said.
Domestic pump prices had a mixed movement on Dec. 10 with gasoline prices going up by P0.40 per liter amid the ongoing volatility in the world oil prices.
Diesel and kerosene prices, however, had a price rollback of P0.50 per liter and P0.75 per liter, respectively.
Year-to-date, the total adjustment of gasoline and diesel stands at a net increase of P11.75 per liter and P9.50 per liter, respectively. On the other hand, kerosene has a total net decrease of P1.15 per liter.
