Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Eastern Petroleum Corp. announced on Monday (September 7) that it will hike gasoline and diesel prices by P1.90 per liter and P1.70 per liter, respectively, beginning 6:00 a.m. Tuesday (September 8).
Other firms are also expected to increase their prices.
The move comes after a roller coaster week for oil prices. On Monday (September 2), oil closed above $49 a barrel, after rising by nearly 30 percent in three days. It dove 7% the following day to close at $45 a barrel. About a week before that, it fell to below $38 a barrel for the first time since 2009.
Last Friday, the commodity closed at $46.05 a barrel.
According to a CNN report, the volatility has been driven in part by speculation.
“It’s really being driven by the speculators. That’s why we’re seeing such wild swings,” said Anthony Starkey, energy analysis manager for Bentek Energy, an analytics and forecasting unit of Platts.
CNN Money’s Matt Egan and Chris Isidore contributed to this report.
