Earlier this week, motorists were greeted with a fuel price hike – resulting in diesel going up by PHP 1.05 per liter while gasoline prices rose PHP 0.90 per liter. While not exactly a huge increase, the fact that both gasoline and diesel prices are still quite high meant motorists have no choice but to grin and bear it.

Fortunately, next week's estimates will see diesel and gasoline prices going down just before February ends. According to oil industry insiders, the price of gasoline is expected to go down between PHP 0.70 to PHP 1.00 per liter. On the other hand, diesel could roll back from PHP 1.40 to PHP 1.70 per liter.

Should these estimated rollbacks ring true next week, it will undo the price increase imposed on gasoline and diesel earlier this week. More importantly, it will provide some temporary respite for cash-strapped motorists that had to endure multiple price hikes since 2022.

The continued see-saw affair in fuel prices is caused by multiple factors. These include the Ukraine-Russia conflict that has been raging for a year, fears of a global recession this year (although inflation is expected to slow down), the price cap sanction against Russian oil, the banning of Russian oil by the European Union (EU), and the hike of interest rates by the US Federal Reserve.

With fuel prices still relatively high, every rollback imposed by oil players is a welcome one.

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