Manila, Philippines – Pump prices will likely move in different directions next week as holiday travels wind down softening demand, while excess supply is sloshing around in the oil industry, the Department of Energy said on Friday, Dec. 26.
Offsetting that demand-supply dynamics that favor lower prices, however, are the protracted geopolitical tensions in Russia and Ukraine.
“Based on the 3-day monitoring in MOPS, we are expecting a mixed movement in the prices of petroleum products by next week,” the agency said in its weekly oil advisory.
The agency forecast a rollback of as much as 50 centavos per liter in gasoline prices.
Oil companies are unlikely to tweak the price of diesel, but could jack up cost of kerosene by about 10 centavos per liter.
The price estimates did not count the operating cost of oil companies and other premiums, the agency said.
“The mixed or slightly downward pressure are attributed to the global oversupply coming from non-OPEC economies like the US, weak demand due to the winding down of holiday travels and seasonal industrial demand and the uncertainty of the geopolitical tensions in Venezuela, Ukraine and Russia,” the advisory read.
