THE per-liter price of diesel is expected to surge by as much as P10.50 next week as attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and oil infrastructure in the Middle East intensified.
Local oil industry sources said on Friday diesel will rise between P10 and P10.50, and gasoline between P4.50 and P5.
The estimates are based on the four-day trading of Mean of Platts, Singapore, the pricing index for refined goods in Southeast Asia.
It will be the third straight week the price of diesel and gasoline will surge.
Diesel had already jumped by up to P4.40 per liter this week, and gasoline by up to P5.70 per liter.
“Oil prices surged higher as attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea further deepened supply disruption worries,” one source said. “Attacks on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, a key oil route for bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, forced a shutdown of the system and triggered concerns that the loss of Saudi export capacity would severely affect global energy supplies.”
Another factor pushing up oil prices is the recent drone strikes launched by Ukraine on diesel refineries in Russia.
Asian gasoline prices remained high due to firm regional demand and the volatility in the Gulf and Russia, the source added.
