Oil firms cut price of unleaded and premium gas, diesel

President Estrada convinced oil companies yesterday to trim prices of unleaded gasoline by 40 centavos, premium by 30 centavos and diesel by 10 centavos before Labor Day.

Emerging from a 30-minute meeting at Malacañang with the top executives of Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Caltex Phils. and two new industry players, the President said he succeeded in persuading the firms to roll back prices at midnight last night, or one month ahead of the original schedule.

The oil companies had earlier planned to reduce pump prices of unleaded and premium gasoline by a smaller amount of 25 centavos a liter on May 30.

"They might again roll back prices in a month or two months," Mr. Estrada said.

The President called for a meeting with the country's oil executives after crude prices eased this month following a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to restore production to previous levels. Crude prices dropped from $28 to $22 per barrel.

High pump prices have led to street protests, transport strikes and bombings of oil company depots by communist insurgents in the country, which imports all its crude.

Mr. Estrada has also blamed the oil price rises for the sharp drop in his approval ratings late last year.

Press Secretary Ricardo Puno said yesterday the rollback was one of the non-wage benefits to be granted to workers on Labor Day. He noted that in the past, an effective date for price reductions would only be studied on the eve of Labor Day.

"I'm glad that this time, the price reductions would benefit our countrymen on Labor Day itself," Puno said.

Energy Secretary Mario Tiaoqui pointed out that the price reduction for diesel was minimal since past adjustments have not affected the product.

"So now, this proportionate movement is to reflect more on gasoline instead of diesel," Tiaoqui said.

The meeting with the President was attended by Petron president Khalid Al-fallih and chairman Jose Syjuco; Shell president Oscar Reyes and vice president for corporate affairs Reynaldo Gamboa; Caltex president Enrico Cavestany; Eastern Petroleum president Fernando Martinez; and Total Petroleum officer-in-charge Olivier Laporte Fauret.

The oil firm executives assured Mr. Estrada of their readiness to trim down gasoline prices in the event of any further downtrend of world crude prices in the days ahead.

They remained optimistic of a possible new round of price rollbacks.

"We will always be responsive to the market," Al-fallih told Palace reporters.

Shell's Gamboa, however, disclosed that the firm has suffered as much as P300 million in losses for the first quarter of the year when they tempered a scheduled price hike at the request of the President.

"The decision to carry out the latest price cuts is a result of a continuing review of prevailing market conditions, including the crude price movement in the world market and the current peso-dollar exchange rate," he said.

The price of Velocity, Shell's high performance fuel, was trimmed by 19 centavos. - With AFP report