Diesel, LPG price hikes hit consumers

MANILA, Philippines — Motorists face another increase at the pump today, while households can expect higher prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) this month.

In separate advisories, Petron, Jetti, Seaoil, Shell, Caltex, Petro Gazz, PTT Philippines and Cleanfuel announced price hikes of P1 per liter for diesel and P0.70 per liter for gasoline and kerosene.

Petron, meanwhile, increased LPG prices by P0.20 per kilo effective yesterday, reflecting the movement in international contract prices for the month.

For the fuel price adjustment this week, the Department of Energy pointed to the “larger-than-expected” decline in US inventories and the ongoing geopolitical conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

The escalating tensions abroad have continued to spark worries over potential oil supply disruptions in the global market, Jetti president Leo Bellas said.

“Bringing further uncertainty to the market is the potential impact on supply flows and the global economy of the new US tariffs on India,” Bellas added.

This comes after US President Donald Trump imposed a 50-percent tariff on goods imported from India as a punitive measure against New Delhi’s purchase of discounted Russian oil.