Oil Prices: Then and Now..

The continuous rise in oil prices in the Philippines is alarming. If I'm not mistaken, this is the 7th time this year that oil prices have increased and we're just starting the 2nd quarter. Fuel prices have now almost reached P50/liter or $1.20/liter with the current dollar-peso exchange rate. Comparing that to U.S. fuel prices which is now almost $4/gallon, with 1 gallon = 3.79 liters, our fuel price is at $4.55/gallon. Wow! That means fuel prices in the Philippines (a third world country) is more expensive than in the U.S. (world's largest economy).

That made me want to find out what the oil prices were 5 to 10 years ago. And this is what I found:

U.S. oil prices:

• 10 years ago - approx. $1/gallon
• 5 years ago - approx. $1.6/gallon

Philippine oil prices:

• Before deregulation (1972-1995) - approx. P5.99/liter (gas) and P3.98/liter (diesel)
• Start of deregulation (April 1996) - approx. P9.50/liter (gas) and P7.03/liter (diesel)
• Start of GMA's term (January 2001) - approx. P16.56/liter (gas) and P13.82/liter (diesel)
• Start of last year (January 2007) - approx. P37.33/liter (gas) and P32.62/liter (diesel)

Imagine that, 13 years ago the average fuel prices were just P6/liter. Now it's almost P50/liter. That's an 833% increase. Wow! Eversince the oil was deregulated, oil prices have gone up dramatically. No wonder the poor gets poorer and the rich probably get richer while the middle class is struggling!

Now, don't you wish that the weather in Manila is colder so that we could just ride bicycles instead of drive cars and waste more precious gasolines? Anyway, If you want to know, I got those figures from here and here.