WORLD OIL PRICES (February 21-25, 2022 trading days)

Dubai crude has increased week-on-week by around US$ 3.00/bbl. MOPS gasoline and MOPS diesel have both increased by approximately US$2.50 per barrel and about US$ 2.10 per barrel.

Reasons for the Price Adjustment¹

• Crude Crude oil prices rose by about $10/b and crossed the $105/b in London intraday trading on Feb. 24 following Ukraine invasion by Russian military forces and stoking fears of supply concerns across Europe and the world. Prices were last seen at these levels in August-2014 when Russia was sanctioned by the US and Europe. US and EU have vowed to put the harshest of sanctions on Russia in response to the military action on the state. Given the high dependency of Europe on Russian oil and gas sector and already tight state of the oil markets, any sanctions affecting payment transactions would further tighten the oil markets.
   
• Asian gasoline cracks moved slightly higher on week advancing by $0.30/b on week to $15.69/b on February 24 Asian close, driven by higher driving activity prospects in the region and reopening of boarders by more Asian economies. Lower gasoline exports from China for March and Russia-Ukraine military crisis also kept the gasoline complex robust.

o Australia reopened its borders to vaccinated travelers from Feb. 21 while Japan announced limited border reopening for education and business purpose from March onwards. Stockpiling ahead of upcoming Ramadan season in Indonesia that starts Apr.2 continues to lend support to Asian gasoline market.

o The driving index in India was observed at 238.73 above baseline levels, up by 2.7% on week while in Australia and Japan it was recorded at 134.41 and 158.06 above baseline levels, up by 1.3% and 6% on week, respectively. However, mobility index was seen deteriorating in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam due to rising infections as well as higher retail gasoline prices that curbed some of the discretionary demand.

o Near-term gasoline demand is expected to stay strong, supported by upcoming summer driving season and economies reopening borders.

• For gasoil/diesel, lower exports from China and now heightened volatility and uncertainty caused by Russian invasion of Ukraine that may potentially disrupt trade flow continue to provide a robust floor to Asian gasoil complex. Russia is the largest exporter of gasoil to Europe and any potential sanctions or port disruptions arising out of military conflict could further tighten the already thin Asian regional 4supply by widening of the arbitrage to send barrels to the West.

FOREX: Philippine peso depreciated week-on-week against the US dollar by P0.02 to P51.35 from P51.33 in previous week.

Other recommended reference sites:
    • http://www.aip.com.au/pricing
    • http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=crude-oil-dubai
    • https://www.quandl.com/data/ODA/POILDUB_USD-Dubai-Crude-Oil-Price

DOMESTIC OIL PRICES

Effective 01 March 2022, the oil companies implemented a price increase in domestic oil products. Gasoline has increased by P0.90 per liter, diesel by P0.80 per liter, while kerosene by P0.75 per liter.

These resulted to the year-to-date adjustments to stand at a total net increase of P9.65/liter for gasoline, P11.65/liter for diesel and P10.30/liter for kerosene.

For the updated prevailing retail pump price, please browse this link: https://www.doe.gov.ph/price-monitoring-charts?q=retail-pump-prices-metro-manila.

For more information, call the

Department of Energy
Pricing: 840-2187
LPG: 840-2130
Fuels: 840-5669
SMS: (0915) 4469421
Email: oilmonitor@doe.gov.ph
Website: https://www.doe.gov.ph

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¹ Asia Pacific Weekly Recap by S & P Global Platts Analytics