WORLD OIL PRICES (Mar 4-8, 2013 trading days)

Despite the seesawing trend of prices Dubai crude declined week-on-week by almost US$2/bbl. MOPS gasoline decreased as well in the same comparative period by almost US$4/bbl; diesel 
dropped by about US$3.50/bbl.

The factors contributing to lower prices according to analysts include the following:

1. Larger-than-expected downturn in China's latest non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data

• China’s official nonmanufacturing PMI reportedly fell to 54.5 in February from 56.2 in January.  Being a major consumer of oil products, any indication that growth might be slowing in the world’s second largest economy tend to weigh strongly on oil prices.

1. Ongoing concerns about stability in the eurozone following Italy's parliamentary elections early last week

• Italy's parliament remained gridlocked, reportedly contributing to a further downturn in the value of the euro, which slipped back below the 1.30 mark against the dollar through much of the US session.
• Inconclusive election results also continued to raise concerns over the outlook for the euro zone — and the prospects for energy demand in the region.

1. Diminishing geopolitical risk premium 

• A more upbeat tone in talks with Iran late last week diminished the geopolitical risk premium, adding to a downward trend in oil prices, particularly Brent crude (Iran met the U.S., China, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K., in Almaty, Kazakhstan, after an eight-month lapse in negotiations). 
• Analysts aver that "Last week's meeting was taken quite positively by Iran; the selloff last year was linked to the perception at the time that maybe there would be a solution found around sanctions for Iran."

The increase later into the trading week was linked to reports of a moderately improving U.S. economy, which suggests increased fuel consumption, outweighing a big rise in crude supplies. Some support also came from a weaker dollar.

For MOPS gasoline and diesel, Platts noted that the Asian and Mideast gasoil market sentiment  dampened into the end of the trading week, amid persistently weak buying appetite and ample  supply. Asian gasoline cracks also dropped amid weaker demand for April.

FOREX: Peso slightly depreciated against the US dollar by P0.02 to P40.73, from P40.71 in previous  week.

Other recommended reference sites: 
(1) http://www.aip.com.au/pricing (2) http://www.med.govt.nz/ers/oil_pet/prices/prices.html

DOMESTIC OIL PRICES 

Effective 10 March, most of the oil companies implemented a price rollback of P0.90/liter for gasoline and diesel. Kerosene was also decreased by P1.00/liter.

The third weekly consecutive rollback slashed further year-to-date net increase in gasoline, to P0.95/liter, while that of diesel reduced to zero as total rollbacks offsetted price increases in previous months.

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: http://www.doe.gov.ph