MANILA, Philippines — Pump prices are expected to go down this week, the third time for this year.
Unioil Philippines forecasted diesel to go down by P0.20 to P0.30 per liter and gasoline by P0.90 to P1.00 per liter.
The price rollback will minimally reduce the year-to-date increases of pump prices, with gasoline prices increasing by P16 per liter, diesel by P26 per liter and kerosene by P24.10 per liter since the start of the year.
In the past trading week, global prices slipped for the second straight week after several large consuming countries firmed up plans of oil stockpile releases.
In a report by Reuters, members of International Energy Agency (IEA) bared the release of 60 million barrels from strategic stockpiles in the next six months to mitigate high prices.
This is on top of the commitment of the United States, with US President Joe Biden announcing the release of one million barrels per day of crude oil for six months from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve starting May.
Meanwhile, top oil importer China extended the two-week lockdown in Shanghai, which raised worries on demand, the wire service reported.