MANILA – Oil prices may rise by up to PHP1.50 per liter next week due to overseas supply disruptions linked to geopolitical tensions.
Jetti Petroleum President Leo Bellas said Friday diesel prices could increase by PHP1.30 to PHP1.50 per liter, while gasoline may go up by PHP0.50 to PHP0.70 per liter, citing foreign exchange movements and Asian oil benchmarks.
Bellas said rising U.S.-Iran tensions, new sanctions on Iran’s shadow fleet, and increased U.S. military presence in the Middle East have heightened supply uncertainty, supporting higher crude prices.
He added that an outage at Kazakhstan’s largest oilfield and a major U.S. winter storm have further tightened near-term oil and gas supply.
“Diesel and middle distillate prices are up due rising supply concerns as the EU import ban on refined products from Russian-origin crude could disrupt flows and tighten the physical market. For gasoline, limiting the upside to prices is the healthy regional supply and stock inventory,” he added.
If implemented, the hike would mark the fourth straight week of gasoline price increases and the sixth for diesel.
This week, gasoline rose by PHP0.40 per liter, diesel by PHP1.40 and kerosene by PHP0.80. (PNA)