Cleanfuel president Bong Suntay on Friday belied the announcement of a big-time fuel price rollback of P12 next week, citing the current volatility of the world market.
Suntay told DZRH in an interview that Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi's announcement of the fuel price roll back was made too early, and was just based on the downswing in the market on Monday.
"Nabanggit ko kay Secretary Cusi na masyadong maaga ang kanilang announcement dahil very volatile 'yung market," he said. "Ang pinagbasehan nila 'yung malalaking downswing na nangyari sa future sales ng crude market nung Lunes."
(I mentioned to Secretary Cusi that their announcement was too early because the market is very volatile. They based it on the huge downswings that happened on the crude market last Monday.)
However, Suntay said that since Tuesday night, there has been an upswing in the market, where Brent crude reached P102, before later hitting P107 on Thursday.
"Kapag nagsara ngayon ng mataaas ng halaga, magkakaroon naman ng rollback pero hindi 'yung sinasabi nilang aabot sa P12," he stated.
(When it closes today on a high price, there will be a rollback but it will not be reaching the P12 as they announced.)
"Ang ating tantya ay between P8 to P9 siguro. Maaaring P7 to P9 sa diesel, then maybe P3 to P4 sa gasolina," he added.
(Our estimate is maybe between P8 to P9. It may be P7 to P9 on diesel, then maybe P3 to P4 on gasoline.)
According to Suntay, they are projecting the fuel prices will continue going up as long as the conflict between Ukraine and Russia remains unresolved.
"Ang ating projection, tataas 'yan habang hindi pa naaayos ang gulo between Russia and Ukraine," he said.
(In our project, it will go up while the conflict between Russie and Ukraine is unresolved.)
The surging fuel prices have triggered a domino effect in the Philippines, where drives are calling for hikes in minimum fare and goods have also begun seeing higher costs.
The government has already called for a review of the Oil Deregulation Law and are providing subsidies for drivers to cushion the impact of the soaring oil prices.
