Oil Monitor as of 26 March 2024

Date published: March 26, 2024

WORLD OIL PRICES (March 18-22, 2024, trading days)

The week-on-week price of Dubai crude has increased by around $2.70 per barrel. The international price of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene have also increased by about $4.90, $2.30, and $2.40 per barrel, respectively.

Reasons for the Price Adjustment1

  • Crude oil prices extend gains in view of the following:
    • Expectation of rate cuts by US Fed
    • Firm refinery demand and US stock draw
    • Weaker US dollar
  • Concerns over geopolitical risk also continue to add premium as three major refineries and several fuel depots in Russian territory have been damaged by drones, taking more than 600,000 b/d of processing capacity offline in less than a week.
  • Iraq’s announcement to trim crude exports to 3.3 million b/d through the end of June, as well as fall in Saudi Arabia’s January exports further propelled prices.
  • The Asian gasoline complex strengthened, as US stocks fell 3.31 million barrels last week, to a near three-month low of 230.773 million barrels in the week ended March 15, per US EIA data.
  • Also supported gasoline, the moderate Chinese exports in March amid limited available export quotas
    while bullish economic data helped in pushing prices higher.
  • For gasoil/diesel complex, long regional supply weighed as South Korea and China continue to offer cargoes for April loading while arbitrage economics remained unviable.
  • However, demand also improved slightly in China, post Lunar New Year holidays, as construction projects resumed operations while weak margins were slated to cap throughput at Shandong’s independent refineries in March.

FOREX: The week-on-week average of Philippine peso depreciated versus the US dollar by P0.46 to P55.91 from P55.45 in previous week.

DOMESTIC OIL PRICES

Effective 26 March 2024, the oil companies implemented an increase in gasoline, diesel, and kerosene by P2.20, P1.40 and P1.30, per liter, respectively.

Year-to-date adjustment of gasoline, diesel and kerosene stand at a per liter net increase of P7.75, P5.10 and P1.05, respectively.

___________________________

1 Asia Pacific 22 March 2024 Weekly Recap by S & P Global Platts Analytics

For the updated prevailing retail pump prices, please refer to this link:

Other recommended reference sites:

 

For more information, call the

Department of Energy
Pricing: 840-2187
LPG: 840-2130
Fuels: 840-5669
Website: https://www.doe.gov.ph

Pages