Philippine Daily Inquirer: More oil companies raise pump prices: “The energy chief likewise appealed to oil firms not to implement another increase in the next two weeks” (ShellNews.net)
Abigail L. Ho
Sept 02, 2004
FOLLOWING the lead of their competitors, oil refiner Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and new oil players Total (Philippines) Corp. and Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc. yesterday raised gasoline prices by 30 centavos a liter and diesel and kerosene prices by 45 centavos a liter.
Total dealers implemented the price increases at 12:01 a.m. yesterday, while Unioil started charging higher prices at 6 a.m. the same day.
High international oil prices prompted oil firms to implement yet another increase, the third in the consecutive weekly price adjustments that started in Aug. 16.
The benchmark Dubai crude averaged $38.55 a barrel in August, up by almost $4 from the July average of $34.65.
Unleaded gasoline based on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) bellwether for finished products also soared to an average of $51.50 a barrel last month from only $46.52 in July.
MOPS-based diesel also surged to a high $51.66-a-barrel average in August, more than $5 higher than the July average of $46.25.
Other new players Eastern Petroleum Corp. and Seaoil Petroleum Corp. earlier announced their price increases but implemented these yesterday.
Flying V, which made a similar announcement but for higher increases of 40 centavos a liter for gasoline and 50 centavos for diesel and kerosene, yesterday decided to match its competitors' price increase levels.
Energy Secretary Vincent Perez had earlier exercised some moral suasion to get the oil firms to agree not to raise pump prices by as much as 60 centavos a liter, and instead just implement a 30-centavo-a-liter increase.
The oil firms heeded the energy chief's appeal by increasing gasoline prices by only 30 centavos a liter. However, they raised diesel and kerosene prices by 45 centavos a liter, 50 percent higher than what the Department of Energy sought.
Perez admitted that, according to DOE computations, oil firms still had an under-recovery of P1.50 a liter for diesel but an over-recovery of 80 centavos a liter for gasoline.
Under-recoveries and over-recoveries refer to changes in world oil prices that are not reflected at the pump.
The energy chief likewise appealed to oil firms not to implement another increase in the next two weeks and to "consider the recent downward movement in world prices the past three trading days before making any more adjustments in local prices.''
Since the beginning of the year, gasoline prices have gone up nine times by a total of P5.30-P5.45 a liter, while diesel prices have increased eight times by a total of P4.25-P4.40 a liter.