Prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene will go down on Tuesday, an official of the Department of Energy (DOE) told dzBB on Saturday.

Oil Industry Management Bureau director Rino Abad said for diesel, prices will be rolled back ''more than two pesos'' a liter. '' There will be rollback in the prices of gasoline and kerosene.''

Abad told dzBB the price rollback '' will not be as large as the increase last week.''

Rodelia Romero, assistant director of the Oil Industry Management Bureau, told the ''Laging Handa'' virtual public briefing that the rollback was caused by several factors including the release of the strategic reserve of the United States and the lockdown in China.

"The US released their strategic reserve to balance the supply and demand in the world market. The IEA (International Energy Authority) or the European countries also agreed to provide volume that will help for the release of their stockpile but they did not give an exact amount, we will know next week," she said.

Romero said Shanghai, China's commercial hub with 26 million residents, was locked down to curb the spread of COVID-19.

"It is an unfortunate reason but because of this lockdown in the provinces of China the demand has decreased," she added.

Romero said another reason is the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

"They said they (Russia and Ukraine) will temper or reduce the military operation but not necessarily ceasefire so that is the reason why we will have a rollback," she said. Robina Asido/DMS