P8/liter rollback in fuel prices possible next week —DOE's Abad - GMA Network

Department of Energy-Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad floated Tuesday the possibility of an P8 per liter rollback in the prices of fuel products next week.

“In the past three trading days, ang laki po ng binaba; it’s almost $17 'yung binaba ng ating diesel, for example. So if ngayong Monday pa lang, maiestimate natin po iyan, is around P8 per liter 'yung rollback if this will continue until Friday,” Abad said.

(In the past three trading days, there was a large decrease. The decrease in diesel, for example, if it is just this Monday, we have an estimate there; the rollback is around P8 per liter if this will continue until Friday.)

The energy official attributed this to Saudi Arabia’s announcement that it will continue to load 14 million barrels of crude oil, sending a message that it will continue supplying to their buyers.

Global fuel products rose after Houthi rebels attacked Saudi Arabia. The past oil price hikes were also due to the conflict in the Red Sea.

Despite the predicted rollback in some fuel products, Abad said that LPG prices are set to increase because suppliers purchased units during a time when they were expensive.

He also said that fuel prices are unlikely to reach more than P150 per liter.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said that erratic market prices are due to the conflict in the Middle East, which is unlikely to end soon given the recent attacks. She also said that it would be difficult to predict the flow of events, especially since there was little progress in peace talks.

Meanwhile, Garin said the country has enough fuel supplies to last the 53 days.

“On the part of inventory, humigit-kumulang 53 days po ang ating national average supply,” she said.

(On the part of inventory, our national average supply is 53 days, more or less.)

This exceeds the 15- to 30-day supply required in DOE’s policy. For diesel and gasoline supplies, there are 56 to 57 days’ worth of reserves, and for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the supply could last 36 days.

“This is a very comfortable number of days, and we hope that we continue to do so,” Garin added.

Having a supply for 53 days does not mean that it will run out by the 54th day, the DOE secretary explained. She said it meant there are 53 days to look for fuel supply to replenish what the country is consuming. —AOL, GMA News