WORLD OIL PRICES  (May 11-15, 2015 trading days) 

Crude oil prices lost Monday on persistent global oversupply worries, and with US data suggesting petroleum drilling is picking up in some areas.

• On supply glut: The US-EIA report disclosed that the country’s commercial crude oil stockpiles declined in the week ending May 1, the first decline in 16 weeks. But stockpiles at 487.0 million barrels still remained at their highest level on record for that time of year. Further, oil output from OPEC was little changed in April, only dropping 1,000 barrels to 31.295 million barrels a day..

• On picking-up on petroleum drilling: Commerzbank noted that the US oil rig count fell by just 11 last week, the smallest decline since early April, and came as some key petroleum basins saw the first rise in the weekly rig count all year..

While global oil prices rebounded on Tuesday through Wednesday supported by weaker dollar as traders awaited the release of the weekly US oil inventories report, the same slipped anew on Thursday amid concerns over weak economic data from the world's top economies, dimming oil demand outlook. Specifically, China, the world's second top energy consumer, did not show enough promise in April to drive oil demand despite easier monetary policy. China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that growth in retail sales, a key indicator of consumer spending, fell to 10.0 percent in April, the weakest in nine years. Similarly, growth slowed sharply in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, to 0.3 percent from 0.7 percent during the first quarter.

Analysts say however that any gains in oil prices are being capped by continued concerns over a global oversupply in the face of weaker demand.

For the products, sentiment in the Asian gasoline market remained upbeat sustained by healthy regional demand, particularly a strong demand from Indonesia and Vietnam. Indonesia’s Pertamina issued a tender seeking four to eight 200,000 barrels each of 92RON gasoline cargoes monthly in the third quarter or second-half of 2015. Vietnam’s Petrolimex issued a tender to buy 30,000 MT of 92RON gasoline for May and 10,000 MT of 95RON for June.

Meanwhile, Platts noted that Asian gasoil/diesel eased off Friday after a strong demand from Saudi Arabia that boosted the market early in the week. The bullish sentiment from the Saudis eased off as supply reportedly remained ample.

Overall, Dubai crude price decreased week-on-week by US$0.92/bbl. However, MOPS gasoline and diesel correspondingly increased by about US$1.20 and US$0.40 a barrel, respectively.

FOREX:   Peso per US dollar rate depreciated by P0.02 to P44.65, from P44.63 in previous week.  

Other recommended reference sites:  (1) http://www.aip.com.au/pricing (2) http://www.med.govt.nz/ers/oil_pet/prices/prices.html 

DOMESTIC OIL PRICES

Effective 19 May 2015, most of the oil companies implemented an increase of P0.35/liter for gasoline and P0.15/liter for diesel.

Year-to-date total adjustments rose to a net increase of P4.47 for gasoline and P2.01 for diesel, while LPG remained at a net decrease of P4.60/kg.

* RON 95

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