WORLD OIL PRICES (March 28-April 1,2022 trading days)

Reasons for the Price Adjustment¹

• Crude prices slid earlier this week as the Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Turkey to discuss cease fire agreement on March 28. Russia promised to cut down heavily on military near Kyiv while Ukraine proposed a neutral stance on security guarantees. However, talks failed to materialize and crude prices surged in response.
  • However, announcement by Biden administration to release 180 million barrels over 6-month period or 1 million b/d of oil from strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) caused crude prices to slump by more than$5/band even overshadowed bullish US inventory data and stalled progress on Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
  • OPEC+ in its meeting on March 31 decided to stick to scheduled production increase of 432,000 b/d for May, in line with market expectations and leaving little impact to oil markets.
• Asia gasoline market slipped further this week with cracking falling by $2.61/b on week to $14.15/b on March 31 Asian close as markets see higher exports from China and India. According to market sources, China is expected to export about 500,000-700,000 mt of gasoline in April as domestic demand weakens on re-imposition of lockdowns in several cities including Shanghai.
  • S&P Global Commodity Insights has lowered China’s gasoline demand by 400,000 b/d in March and 250,000 b/d in April due to renewed restrictions. Indian sellers were also heard increasing exports in April from March.
  • Upcoming Ramadan and higher driving season would further support higher driving activity and gasoline demand.
• Given the high dependency of EU on Russian diesel, that receives roughly 0.7 million b/d of diesel from Russia, the gasoil market reacted strongly last week on news on potential ban by EU of Russian oil imports. However, prices fell precipitously as Russian diesel continues to flow into Europe with Asian gasoil cracks tumbling by $5.19/b on week $32.57 on March 31 Asian close.
  • With shortage concerns have subsided, the tighter fundamentals however, still remain at play. Demand remains strong as economies continue to live with virus while regional supply remains tight.

FOREX:Philippine peso appreciated week-on-week against the US dollar by P0.39 to P51.96 from P52.35 in previous week.

Other recommended reference sites:
    • http://www.aip.com.au/pricing
    • http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=crude-oil-dubai
    • https://www.quandl.com/data/ODA/POILDUB_USD-Dubai-Crude-Oil-Price

DOMESTIC OIL PRICES

Effective 05 April 2022, the oil companies implemented a price decrease in domestic oil products. Gasoline has dropped by P2.30-P2.50 per liter, diesel by P1.85-P2.00 per liter, and kerosene by P1.65 per liter.

These resulted to the year-to-date adjustments to stand at a net increase of P16.00/liter for gasoline, P26.00/liter for diesel and P24.10/liter for kerosene.

For the updated prevailing retail pump price, please browse this link: https://www.doe.gov.ph/price-monitoring-charts?q=retail-pump-prices-metro-manila.

For more information, call the

Department of Energy
Pricing: 840-2187
LPG: 840-2130
Fuels: 840-5669
SMS: (0915) 4469421
Email: oilmonitor@doe.gov.ph
Website: https://www.doe.gov.ph

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¹ Asia Pacific Weekly Recap by S & P Global Platts Analytics