No change in LPG prices

Energy Secretary Vincent Perez assured the people yesterday that the price of cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will stay despite frequent increases in gasoline prices.

This developed as Totalfinaelf, one of the most aggressive new oil firms, raised its pump price by 10 centavos per liter starting yesterday.

Perez noted that the international contract price of LPG remained stable since last January.

"Despite recent oil price movements, we do not expect oil companies to implement price adjustments in LPG as prices in the international market have remained stable since early this year," Perez said.

LPG in the local market costs P225 to P249 for an 11-kilogram cylinder, and P90 for the 2.7-kilo cylinder.

Perez said the strong market competition in the LPG sector brought about by the entry of new oil players has effectively resulted in reasonable prices of the product.

Todate, new LPG players accounted for 26 percent market share. Most of them have penetrated the provinces which has been overlooked by the major players for a long time.

As of December last year, the 14 new firms involved in the LPG industry have invested a total of P4.85 billion, records showed.

Meanwhile, Total corporate affairs manager Rona Quejada said the increase in petroleum product prices is inevitable because international oil prices have risen.

Based on the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the reference used in pricing imported finished oil products, prices have shown a sharp increase over the past three months.

From $20.90 per barrel in January, the monthly average price of unleaded gasoline soared to $27.93 in March. MOPS average prices since early this year has almost equaled if not surpassed the MOPS prices in September to October last year. Still we endeavor to case the impact of rising fuel prices on the consumer by implementing small but frequent increases," Quejada said. – Donnabelle Gatdula