Motorists face another round of higher pump prices this week, with regular diesel in Metro Manila potentially reaching nearly P100 per liter as tight global supply and a weaker peso keep fuel costs elevated.

The Department of Energy (DoE) said Monday that permitted price adjustments starting today amount to an increase of P2.31 per liter for diesel and Diesel Plus, P1.08 per liter for gasoline, and P0.95 per liter for kerosene.

Based on prevailing Metro Manila prices last week, regular diesel could rise to between P79.31 and P99.81 per liter following the adjustment. Diesel Plus could climb to P89.30 to P103.15 per liter.

Gasoline RON 91 could increase to a range of P65.28 to P90.58 per liter, while RON 95 could reach P66.28 to P94.78 per liter. Higher-octane RON 97/100 gasoline could rise to between P70.34 and P97.65 per liter.

Kerosene, on the other hand, could range from P100.05 to P134.27 per liter.

Tight global diesel supply

Leo Bellas, president of Jetti Petroleum Inc., said tight global diesel supply continued to put upward pressure on prices despite additional barrels coming from India and China.

“Persistent supply tightness continues to support the diesel market, despite increasing replacement barrels coming from India and China.

Furthermore, Middle Eastern exports have remained constrained by disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz and at the same time, Russia’s ongoing diesel export ban has removed another major source of supply from the global market,” Bellas said.

Peso depreciation

He said the depreciation of the peso also pushed this week’s average prices above the previous week’s levels.

For gasoline, Bellas said Asian prices remained supported by low inventories despite increased supply from China and India.

“The Asian gasoline price market, which had been operating under tight conditions since the start of the US-Iran conflict, remains buoyed by multi-year low regional inventories despite a hike in supply from China and India,” he added.

The higher pump prices come even as the Philippines maintains more than a month of petroleum supply.

DoE data showed the country had an estimated 47.22 days of total fuel supply as of 21 August against average daily demand of 78.08 million liters.

Highest daily demand for diesel

Diesel, which had the highest daily demand among the petroleum products tracked by the DoE, had 47.66 days of available supply against average consumption of 34.65 million liters per day.