Motorists should expect the fuel price hikes to persist until the end of the year as prompted by the low global oil supply due to production cuts.

"That is what they should expect by the end of this year because of the shortage. Now, we are at the peak of shortage that reached three million barrels per day but as per the report of the International Energy Agency by the end of the year, the shortage will be reduced to half a million," lawyer Rino Abad of the Department of Energy-Oil Industry Management Bureau or DoE-OIMB said during the Bagong Pilipinas briefing on Tuesday.

Abad thus conveyed that prices, although on an uptick, will not be hefty.

"So, we expect that the price is still high because of the tightness towards the end of the year. But if you look at the three million shortfall to 500,000, there is what is called backwardation, so the price increase is expected little by little," Abad explained.

Starting Tuesday morning, 19 September, diesel prices effectively increased by P2.50 per liter. Kerosene and prices, on the other hand, both went up by P2 per liter.

The new round of price adjustment was the 11th increase for diesel and kerosene and the 10th for gasoline.

Relatedly, the price movement translated to a commutative increase of P13.60 per liter for diesel; P17.50 for gasoline; and P9.95 per liter for kerosene.

In constant communication

In a recent spot interview with reporters, Secretary Raphael Perpetuo Lotilla assured that the DoE is in constant communication with other government agencies to help consumers cope with the rising prices but noted that nothing is definitive yet as to what course of action they could take.

For this week, DoE data showed gasoline prices range from P60.50 to P69.50 per liter in Quezon City, Metro Manila's largest city.

Diesel prices, meanwhile, range from P65.25 to P71.30 per liter in Makati City, the country's top financial hub. In Manila, kerosene sold from P80.11 to P82.40 per liter.

Oil companies announce price adjustments every Monday to be implemented on the following day's morning.