Oil firms cut gas, LPG prices

MANILA, Philippines - The price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or cooking gas was cut anew by 50 centavos per kilo yesterday.

Arnel Ty, LPG Marketers Association (LPGMA) president, said the rollback was consistent with the drop in international contract prices.

They are also projecting an additional P3 per kilo rollback in the coming weeks, he said.

An 11-kg LPG cylinder will now sell at P580, compared to about P600 to P750 the previous week.

Last month, LPG contract prices went down by $5 per metric ton to $731 per metric ton.

LPGMA’s members include Omni Gas, Pinnacle Gas, Island Gas, Cat Gas and Nation Gas.

Meanwhile, Shell and Eastern Petroleum Corp. followed the oil price rollback of Seaoil Philippines on Monday.

Shell and Eastern reduced their gasoline products by P1 per liter, while diesel and regular gasoline prices were cut by 25 centavos and 50 centavos per liter.

On Monday, Seaoil cut its gasoline prices by P1 per liter.

Yesterday, it decided to reduce its diesel and regular gasoline prices by the same amount as Shell and Eastern.

The drop in local pump prices was triggered by the lower average price of crude and finished petroleum product prices in the global arena.

As of Feb. 15, the average Dubai crude, benchmark of local oil refiners, dropped to $72 per barrel against $77 per barrel in January 2010.

Unleaded gasoline at the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), price gauge of oil importers, also dropped to $85 per barrel as of Feb. 15 compared to $88 per barrel in January.

Diesel prices at MOPS also went down by $4 per barrel from $85 per barrel in January to $81 per barrel on Feb. 15. - Donnabelle Gatdula