Philippines’ fuel shock exposes limits of deregulated oil market

The Philippines was hit by a sharp fuel-price shock on Tuesday, with pump costs surging after the escalating conflict involving Iran pushed global oil prices higher, in what could become one of the country’s steepest weekly increases in years. Consumer groups say the surge is exposing a deeper problem: a deregulated oil industry introduced in the late 1990s that allows companies to set pump prices in line with global markets, leaving the government with fewer tools to intervene than many of i...

By Sam Beltran