Oil firms roll back prices by 50¢/ liter

Fuel prices dropped by another 50 centavos per liter yesterday as global prices of crude continued to soften. But the price of liquefied petroleum gas or LPG remained high.

Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Chevron Philippines Inc., Total Philippines, Seaoil Philippines, Eastern Petroleum Corp., Unioil and PTT Philippines rolled back their prices between 12 noon and 6 p.m.

Glen Yu, president of the Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA), said earlier that pump prices of fuel might decrease further in the next two weeks.

Global crude prices have so far dropped by more than $4 per barrel in recent weeks.

The local oil firms earlier reduced their prices by 50 centavos last week.

Yu said there may be more price reductions in the coming weeks if the downtrend in global crude prices persists.

The average Dubai crude, the benchmark used by local oil refiners, stood at $51.99 per barrel as of Jan. 18, 2007 from the average $58.68 per barrel in December 2006.

The Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the pricing gauge used by oil importers, also softened to $61.82 per barrel for unleaded gasoline and $68.73 for diesel on Jan. 18, 2007 as against December’s $68.16 and $72.20, respectively.

The LPG international contract price for January rose to $548.50 per metric ton from $490.50 per MT in December 2006 and $464 per MT in November 2006. It’s not clear if LPG prices will rise over the weekend.

According to the LPG suppliers, they need to recover P4.50 per kilo from the rise in contract prices of LPG in the international market.