DOE-DOJ task force to probe oil companies

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Energy (DOE) task force wants to determine if oil companies could be held criminally liable for not reflecting true oil prices.

In a press conference last Friday, Justice Undersecretary Jose Victor Salazar, a member of the DOJ/DOE task force on oil-related issues, requested all oil companies present in the meeting to submit pertinent documents to disprove any possible criminal violations on oil pricing.

Last Friday’s meeting was called by Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes to shed light on the confusion created by the recent move of one of the independent oil players, Unioil Philippines Inc., to roll back its gasoline prices by as much as P4.75 per liter and diesel prices by P3.50 per liter which apparently irked other oil players.

“I’d like to request Unioil to submit a report to the Justice Department. Although, we said earlier that suggested retail price is not crucial and what is crucial is how much fuel is being sold in the retail outlet – to us it is important because if that is the SRP, it means that they can sell and still profit (from this price). Because if you look at criminal aspect, the implication of this... is crucial considering that you can still profit – then there is possibly a case of unreasonable price of oil, which is a criminal offense under the law,” Salazar said.

Salazar said the task force would want to ensure that the public interest is protected in these oil pricing brouhaha.

The DOJ official pointed out that if one oil firm can sell at a particular price and the other players are selling at a higher price “then there’s also a possibility of cartelization among the other players.”