Distributors roll back LPG price by P1/kg

MANILA, Philippines - Distributors of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) implemented a P1 per kilogram price rollback yesterday to reflect lower international prices.

Another P4 per kg price cut will follow next month, giving consumers something to cheer about, amidst the escalating oil and gasoline prices, an official of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers’ Association (LPGMA) said.

“Contract prices already started to go down in the international market. It dropped by $130 per metric ton (MT), so that is P6 per kg,” LPGMA president Arnel Ty said in a phone interview.

Ty said that price adjustments are held every month but LPGMA already cut prices by P1 per kg yesterday.

“It will be a staggered price rollback,” Ty said, adding that the P5 per kg price decline will be implemented in April.

Contract prices of LPG in the world market fell by $130 per MT to $1,200 per MT from the record-high $1,330 per MT at the start of the month, data from the LPGMA showed.

More rollbacks would follow until July or August.

“It will drop more. Rollbacks will be monthly, up to July or August,” Ty said.

Ty said demand from the United States and Europe was already tempered at the end of the winter season.

Furthermore, Ty said the prices of auto LPG will also fall by P6 per kg by next month, with an initial 50-centavo rollback to be implemented as early as next week.

Early this month, firms like Petron Corp., Isla Gas LPG, Liquigaz Philippines Corp. and Petronas Energy Philippines Inc. increased prices of LPG by P4 to P7 per kilogram.

Under the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998, oil firms can price their products based on market forces so as to encourage competition.

The deregulation law also prohibits the government from intervening or influencing the pricing schemes of oil companies.

However, the government, through the Department of Energy, has monitoring powers.

For monitoring purposes, the DOE has requested the firms to report to the department before they implement price adjustments.