Oil firms roll back gasoline prices by P1, diesel by 50¢ per liter

Petroleum companies slashed fuel prices yesterday by as much as P1 per liter, reflecting the easing of crude prices in the world market and the continuing strength of the peso against the dollar.

Oil giants Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corp. and Chevron Philippines (formerly Caltex) announced a P1 per liter reduction on gasoline.

Seaoil and Chevron lowered the price of their kerosene by P1 per liter while Pilipinas Shell, Petron and Eastern Petroleum carried out a price cut of 50 centavos that took effect 10 p.m.

Independent player Unioil also said it will implement simultaneously the P1 cuts on gasoline, diesel and kerosene products.

On top of the price rollback, Shell external affairs general manager Roberto Kanapi said they would continue the P1 discount program to the transport sector.

The major oil firms, however, did not reduce the price of their liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Total Philippines, Seaoil, Eastern Petroleum and Flying V will roll back their prices effective today, at the same level as the oil majors.

Flying V spokesman Macky Lopez said the oil firm is committed to help ease the burden of high oil prices on the public.

Lopez pointed out that Flying V, a wholly Filipino-owned small oil company, was the first to announce the rollback which triggered the other oil firms to consider doing the same.

This is the first rollback this month. Last Aug. 31, the oil firms also implemented an oil price reduction in gasoline and diesel products but decided to keep the price of their LPG products.

Data from the Department of Energy (DOE) showed that before the price reduction on oil prices, the product range for unleaded gasoline stood at P40.64 to P42.53; kerosene, P39.19 to P44; diesel, P35.35 to P37.55; and LPG (11 kg) P481 to P545.80.

As of Sept. 4, 2006, Dubai crude, benchmark being used by local oil refiners in pricing their products, averaged $64.45 per barrel as against August’s $68.93 per barrel and July’s average of $69.17.

The softening of the Dubai crude came after three consecutive months of continuing rise from June’s average of $65.22 and May’s $65.

Unleaded gasoline price based on Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the pricing gauge of oil importers, also dropped to $69.15 per barrel from $81.61 in August; July’s $85.50; $82.76 in June and May’s $86.80.