Gas and diesel might increase PHP 0.70 and PHP 4.70, respectively

With another working week coming to a close, motorists are once again curious to see if the price of fuel will go up or down. But after OPEC+ announced that they will cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day, it immediately sent shock waves to the oil market.

After experiencing weeks of rollbacks, motorists will have to tighten their wallets as both gasoline and diesel prices are expected to go up next week. Based on reports, diesel could shoot up by PHP 4.40 to PHP 4.70 per liter. Meanwhile, gasoline will have a lighter increase between PHP 0.40 to PHP 0.70 per liter. Based on current estimates, the possibility of diesel going up will undo several weeks of rollbacks. Gasoline motorists, on the other hand, will only experience a slight price hike.

While the cutting of oil production by OPEC+ will only begin next month, the announcement has already caused the market to take notice. Currently, the price of Brent Crude Oil is now averaging USD 94 per barrel. Since the cutting of 2 million barrels per day equates to around 2% of global oil demand, oil players around the world appear to be already making adjustments.

The looming threat of a global recession along with the continued hike of interest rates by the US Federal Reserve might have initially decreased the price of oil globally earlier this year. But with the significant reduction of oil production set for November, oil prices might skyrocket again before the year ends.

With fuel prices yet to return to pre-2022 levels, next week's possible price increase will surely affect cash-strapped motorists and businesses.