April 15: Fuel prices see deep cuts of up to P3.60 per liter this Holy Week

MANILA, Philippines — Motorists are in for a double break this Holy Week, with regular holidays and fuel price rollbacks of up to P3.60 per liter starting Tuesday, April 15.

Oil firms will implement price cuts of P3.60 per liter for gasoline, P2.90 for diesel and P3.30 for kerosene.

Shell Pilipinas, Cleanfuel, Seaoil and Caltex announced the downward price adjustments in separate advisories on Monday, April 14. 

The Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau mainly attributed the significant price rollback to the ongoing trade war between the United States and other countries, which has moved the oil prices in the market over the past few days. 

The US has imposed a minimum of 10% tariffs on imports from both its trading partners and specific countries, with rates reaching up to 145% on goods from China. In response, several countries have imposed retaliatory tariffs on American products, with China raising it to as high as 125%.

However, US President Donald Trump suspended the country-specific tariffs for 90 days, while the global base tariff of 10 percent remains in effect.

Another factor contributing to the rollback is Saudi Arabia's lower rates for selling petroleum products to Asia.

This week’s rollback marks the second consecutive week of fuel price cuts, following last week’s slight reductions driven by expectations of lower U.S. gasoline demand amid tariff-related price hikes and growing crude inventories.

On April 8, oil prices were trimmed by a few centavos — P0.10 per liter for gasoline and P0.50 for kerosene.

From April 8 to April 14, the prevailing retail prices of petroleum products in Metro Manila were as follows:  

• Gasoline (RON97/100) - P71.44
• Gasoline (RON95) - P58.40
• Gasoline (RON91) - P56.90
• Diesel - P54.30
• Diesel Plus - P56.10
• Kerosene - P71.37

Since late February, kerosene prices have been on a downward trend, with this week’s significant dip bringing the total net decrease to P2.90 per liter for the year.

Gasoline and diesel, however, have experienced fluctuating price movements. With this week's cuts, gasoline has seen a net increase of P0.95 per liter, while diesel has risen by P1.55 per liter.