Shell, Caltex hike LPG prices by P13.20 per tank

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Caltex Philippines Inc. increased yesterday the price of their liquefied petroleum gas products by P13.20 per11-kilo cylinder, citing the continued rise of LPG contract prices abroad.

"Contract prices of LPG in the international market continue to soar. From October, it already increased by $32 per metric ton in November," Shell external affairs manager Robert Kanapi said.

Caltex officials added that the move to raise its LPG price is due to rising global prices and difficult local and international market conditions.

Other factors in the domestic business environment, they said, such as demand and competition in the marketplace and the weakening of the peso versus the dollar, add to the pricing pressure.

Petron Corp. has yet to decide if it will also jack up its LPG price.

The price hike is already the fourth this year. The oil companies had adjusted LPG price monthly since August this year. It went up by 80 centavos per liter in August and by another P1 per liter in September. Another round of increase was effected only last Oct. 9.

As usual, militant labor groups assailed Pilipinas Shell and Caltex for imposing another price adjustment for LPG, a basic necessity in most households.

In the weekly Kapihan sa Cypress in Quezon City, the labor groups led by the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said that the increase will have a tremendous impact on the livelihood of consumers, ordinary wage earners and other poor sectors.

KMU secretary for federation affairs Joel Maglunsod said no amount of reasoning from the oil companies could justify the recent price increase.

"Workers cannot afford the P300 average retail price of LPG now. Soon we will only use firewood and charcoal for our cooking. We insist that the government urgently control LPG prices since it is a socially-sensitive and widely used petroleum product," he said.

Not even the oil companies’ claim of upward trend in foreign LPG prices could convince the labor groups that the price hike is really necessary.

Maglunsod said that only the oil companies gain from the series of price increases, citing the fact that Petron actually registered a 118 percent increase in its net income for the third straight year.

"Due to its numerous price increases," he stressed, "it was able to increase its income by almost P1.8 billion. From P842 billion last year, it now enjoys a net income of P1.837 billion."

Meanwhile, Kontra Kartel led by its spokesperson Eleanor de Guzman said that more protest actions will be held in the following weeks as the tenth oil price increase in the year is also expected before Christmas.

Caltex officials assured the public, though, that they are committed to remaining open and transparent regarding price adjustments. It will continue to stay closely attuned to market and competitive conditions.

"Caltex will more accurately reflect these conditions by adjusting prices up or down in smaller amounts, more frequently if necessary, with the frequency dictated by changes in market and competitive conditions. This will help cushion our customers from the impact of sudden big swings in prices," they said.