Oil price rollback of P1.50/liter seen this month

MANILA, Philippines - Oil consumers should expect a price rollback of another P1.50 per liter this month, Consumer and Oil Price Watch (COPW) chairman Raul T. Concepcion said.

“Based on COPW computation, the price of oil should go down by P1.50 per liter in the last two weeks of the month,” he said. “This should be the oil companies’ Christmas gift to consumers.”

Concepcion said if the oil companies will dispute COPW’s figures, they should come up with their own computations and make them public.

“I am tired of calling for transparency in prices. The Department of Energy, under the law, should be the one coming up with these prices so the public will know,” he said.

The COPW chief cited that under certain provisions of the oil industry deregulation law, the DOE-Department of Justice (DOJ) Task Force is mandated to announce the 15-day average price for all oil companies importing their finished products except for Petron, the only refiner who should announce the 45-day moving average price and their inventory.

“Because of our experience of a threat of oil shortage during the period Executive Order 839 was enforced, we ask the DOE-DOF Task Force to ascertain that the oil depots in Metro Manila and the provinces maintain a 30-day stock inventory,” he said.

“Consumers are complaining, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao, that the prevailing pump prices in their areas are much higher compared to those in GMA (Greater Manila Area) even if they are willing to pay for the freight. The expensive pump prices are affecting the haulers from Visayas and Mindanao in delivering agricultural and food products to Manila and the rest of the country,” he said.

Concepcion also urged Congress, when it convenes on Jan. 18, 2010, to prioritize the changes to the oil deregulation law to make the recommended measures permanently covered in the law, and that failure to comply by the DOE-DOJ Task Force with the provisions of the law is punishable.

Oil companies reduced their diesel prices by P1 per liter and gasoline by 50 centavos per liter early this week.

Meanwhile, Concepcion said COPW is working closely with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in the accreditation of 39,000 importers by ensuring that they comply with the requirement of a single value-added tax number and that their shipments are inspected by accredited pre-shipment inspection firms, namely: SGS, Dun and Bradstreet and Kotekna.

So far, he said only 6,000 importers have been accredited.

“This way, volume and value of shipments would have been ascertained and this will help expand the tax base,” he said.

“We are urging transparency through publication of companies not accredited by the BIR and Customs as this will serve as a deterrent and will expand the tax base,” he added.