Big oil price hike set Tuesday

Local oil firms, in separate announcements, said that unleaded gasoline will increase by P1.60/liter, diesel by P1.15/liter and kerosene by P1.00/liter. The substantial price adjustment will take effect either at the stroke of midnight on May 22 or at 6AM, depending on the policy of the individual oil company. (Pixabay Photo, CC0)

MANILA — Filipino motorists will have to dig deeper into their pockets after the local oil industry implements yet another significant oil price increase on Tuesday (May 22). This will be the second week in a row when pump prices will go up by more than one peso per liter.

Local oil firms, in separate announcements, said that unleaded gasoline will increase by P1.60/liter, diesel by P1.15/liter and kerosene by P1.00/liter. The substantial price adjustment will take effect either at the stroke of midnight on May 22 or at 6AM, depending on the policy of the individual oil company.

It can be recalled that on May 15, the price of unleaded gasoline also went up by P1.10/liter, diesel by P1.20/liter and kerosene by P0.95 per liter. Prior to this, upward or downward price movements were often much less than P1.00/liter.

Spokesmen for local oil firms simply attributed the impending oil price hike to upward movements in world crude prices which they are simply passing on to consumers. However, it can also be recalled that the Department of Energy said earlier this month that it will be pressing oil companies for a more detailed explanation regarding adjustments in local pump prices.