WORLD OIL PRICES (May 27-31, 2013 trading days)

Along with the price trend of other crude benchmarks, Asian Dubai hovered around US$100 a barrel over the week amid mixed news of global economic concerns, ample supply and rising demand on upcoming summer driving season in the US.

Marginal increase of less than a dollar in midweek was due to the growing expectations that the US Federal Reserve will maintain its stimulus for the time being. But it was offset in the next trading days by a surprised gain in U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles. Fears that China's factory output is barely growing also weighed on the price trend.

Meanwhile, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) delegates, in their 31 May 2013 ministerial meeting in Vienna, indicated that they agreed to keep the output target at 30-million b/d. Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi stressed that the oil market was balanced, with inventories at moderate levels, and US shale oil production was not a threat to the group.

About the products market in Asia, Platts noted the continued positive sentiment for gasoline due to tight prompt fundamentals in the region. This was prompted by the emergence of the new Indian demand that adds to an already higher Indonesian imports, and a cut in gasoline exports from Taiwan.

On the other hand, the 500 ppm sulfur gasoil/diesel market in the region has been supported by strong demand from the Middle East, as well as steady demand from Africa. The higher sulfur grades have also been observed with similar strength because of tight regional supply, despite of lackluster demand from Vietnam and Indonesia. A recent demand from Sri Lanka, likewise, boosted the market.

Overall, Dubai crude decreased this week vs. the previous week by US$0.76/bbl. MOPS diesel also decreased by about US$0.80/bbl contrary to gasoline that increased by US$0.60/bbl. However, the peso depreciation may outweigh the declining effect of the international oil prices.

FOREX: Peso depreciated against the US dollar by P0.75 to P42.08 last week, from P41.34 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 today, 4 June 2013, the oil companies implemented an increase of P0.70/liter for gasoline and P0.40/liter for diesel and kerosene.

The said increase reduced the year-to-date net decrease in gasoline to P0.25/liter, and diesel to P0.87/liter.

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