WORLD OIL PRICES (March 3-7, 2014 trading days)
Oil prices moved higher late last week until Monday, 10 March 2014, prompted by the standoff between Moscow and the West over Ukraine. However, prices slowly receded by about US$3/bbl during the rest of the week, after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared in a press conference that there was "no need" to send troops to Ukraine. This pronouncement reduced concerns over European energy supplies, considering that more than 70 percent of Russian oil and gas exports to Europe pass through Ukraine.
Market jitters eased even as leaders of the 28-nation European Union met in Brussels to decide on whether to impose sanctions against Russia over its military incursion into Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Russia is a key global energy producer and exporter of natural gas to Western Europe.
In Asia, Platts noted of mixed gasoline market following the shutdown of the No. 2 residue desulfurization unit at Formosa's refinery in Mailiao, Taiwan after a fire broke out on Wednesday. While market analysts reportedly saw a slight uptick after the unexpected shutdown, there was no big impact on prompt cargoes. Also, current stocks are said to remain at relatively high levels.
As regards gasoil/diesel, the market remained bearish amid high inventories in Singapore and lackluster demand within the region. Platts further stressed of continuous cargo despite the RDS outage of Formosa refinery in Taiwan.
Dubai crude decreased week-on-week by more than US$3/bbl. Likewise, MOPS diesel decreased by US$0.75/bbl contrary to gasoline, which increased by US$0.07/bbl.
FOREX: Week-on-week Peso per US dollar depreciated by P0.05 to P44.68, from P44.63 in previous week.
Other recommended reference sites:
(1) https://www.aip.com.au/pricing (2) https://www.med.govt.nz/ers/oil_pet/prices/prices.html
DOMESTIC OIL PRICES
Effective 11 March 2014, most of the oil companies implemented an increase of P0.10/liter for gasoline and a decrease of P0.20/liter for diesel.
Year-to-date total price adjustment for gasoline stands at a net increase of P0.30/liter and diesel at a net decrease of P0.65/liter.
| As monitored, shown below are the retail prices in Metro Manila beginning 11 March 2014. | ||
| Products | Price Range | Common Price |
| P/liter | ||
| Diesel | 42.05-45.85 | 44.80 |
| Gasoline* | 50.30-56.45 | 53.70 |
| Auto-LPG | 32.10-35.86 | |
| LPG, P/11-kg cylinders | 722.00-832.00 | |
* RON 95
For more information, call the
Department of Energy:
Pricing: 840-2187
LPG: 840-2130
Fuels: 840-5669
SMS: (0915) 4469421
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.doe.gov.ph