Gas prices have constantly been going up every weekend. Baka umabot pa ng 50/liter ang unleaded gas bago umumpisa ng school year...


Peso depreciation prompts eighth oil price hike this year

MANILA, Philippines - The peso’s depreciation last week prompted oil industry players to raise pump prices for the eighth time this year.

The peso depreciated to P42 to a $1 on Friday, its lowest level this year. A depreciation of the local currency — or conversely, the appreciation of the dollar — impacts negatively on pump prices since oil industry players will need to spend more to buy oil, which is priced in dollars.

Players raised prices last Saturday. Aside from the peso’s depreciation, they also said the hike was due to rising prices in the world market.

Petron Corp. Public Affairs Officer Raffy S. Ledesma, through a text message, said the hike was due to the continuing surge of crude oil prices in the world market.

"Dubai is averaging $102.38 per barrel or $5.62 higher than the March average. It also hit an all time high last Wednesday when it reached P109.55 barrel," he said.

Unioil Philippines Spokesman Raymond T. Zorilla added a weak peso translates into higher pump prices if accompanied by higher world oil prices.

Ferdinand L. Martinez, Eastern Petroleum Corp. chairman and chief executive officer, said the peso depreciation last week translated to a P0.10- to P0.09-hike per liter.

"It all depends on the oil firms when they will pass it on consumers," he said.

But in an interview last week, Mr. Martinez said oil firms might retain current prices until May to recover losses in April since there was barely enough time to recover losses for this month.

The government, to mitigate the impact of high world oil prices, will maintain the 1% oil tariff rate until May.

With the price hike last Saturday, gasoline and diesel now average P46.96 and P39.94 per liter, respectively. - BusinessWorld
Oil strikes new record near $120 on supply fears

PERTH - Oil struck a record high at $119.93 a barrel on Monday, extending the previous session's rally, as a strike closed a major British oil pipeline and as fresh violence in Nigeria reignited supply fears.

Simmering geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran also helped boost oil prices.

US light crude for June delivery rose 81 cents to $119.33 by 2249 GMT, after striking a lifetime high of $119.93 a barrel at the start of Globex electronic trade.

US oil settled $2.46 higher at $118.52 a barrel on Friday.

London Brent crude rose 66 cents to $117.

"Supply side concerns underpinned the oil price," David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note to clients.

"Oil supplies from Nigeria have been disrupted by militant attacks and a strike by some oil workers. A strike at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland has caused significant disruption to supplies from the North Sea," he said.

A pipeline carrying nearly half of Britain's oil was closed on Sunday as a strike over pensions began at the neighboring Grangemouth refinery in Scotland, operator BP (BP.L) said.

The refinery, owned by international chemical company Ineos, produces a tenth of Britain's petrol and diesel but also supplies vital steam to BP's Kinneil plant that starts to process the crude oil coming ashore frol 70 North Sea fields.

In Nigeria, unidentified gunmen killed five policemen and seized several weapons in a raid on a police station in the oil-rich southern Nigerian state of Rivers on Sunday, a police spokeswoman said.

The attack comes just two days after a strike and attacks by rebels forced Nigeria's two largest oil firms, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, to shut in some production.

A step up in tensions between US and the world's fourth-largest crude exporter Iran also contributed to oil's gain.

A cargo ship hired by the US military fired warning shots at boats suspected to be Iranian, the US Navy said on Friday, underscoring tension in the Gulf as the Pentagon sharpened its warnings to Tehran.

Iran denied there had been any confrontation between its forces and a US ship, Iranian media reported.

Iran also said on Sunday a "disastrous situation" facing the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with Washington's domestic issues, made any US attack on the Islamic Republic unlikely.

Tensions between Washington and the OPEC nation last year helped send oil to record highs. Crude prices have surged more than five-fold since 2002 as supplies struggle to keep pace with rising demand in emerging economies, such as China.