No shortage of LPG – DOE

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Energy (DOE) yesterday assured the public that there is sufficient supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the country.

“It was observed that some independent LPG players deferred their purchases before the rollback and the resulting influx of LPG buyers to the Liquigaz Import Terminal in Bataan went beyond the facility’s normal operating capacity of 40 to 45 trucks per day,” the Energy department said in a statement yesterday.

The DOE said Liquigaz has assured the public that there will be additional supply from yesterday until the end of the week.

As such, the DOE appealed to consumers not to panic as it warned retailers against overpricing their LPG products.

The average price of an 11-kg LPG tank is around P655 following last week’s rollback.

The DOE yesterday said it would look into reports of possible shortage in the supply of LPG following the long queues of LPG tankers in Mariveles, Bataan.

Energy Undersecretary Zenaida Monsada said they received reports of an “artificial” shortage of LPG, but they are hoping to get a clearer picture of the LPG market by the end of the week.

“Some industry players say the shortage is artificial. It is due to logistics problems such as walk-in bulk customers without contracts,” Monsada told The STAR.

Liquigaz, which has a terminal in Mariveles, Bataan, is the main supplier of cooking gas dealers belonging to the LPG Marketers Association (LPGMA). It also supplies LPG to Pinnacle Gas, Cat Gas, Omni Gas, Nation Gas, and Island Gas.

The alleged LPG shortage came after oil companies announced a P1 rollback in cooking gas prices on May 1.

Petron Corp., the country’s biggest oil refiner, slashed the prices of Gasul and Fiesta Gas by P2.40 per kilogram last week, citing movements in international LPG contract prices for this month.

It also slashed the price of auto LPG by P1.51 per liter.

Meanwhile, LPGMA party-list Rep. Arnel Ty yesterday assured the public of adequate supply of cooking gas.

Ty said the long queues of LPG tankers in Mariveles were due to the temporary shutdown of Petron’s refinery, prompting its customers to get supply from other LPG suppliers like Shell.

Petron’s refinery was supposed to resume operations last April 15, but this was moved to May 1.  – With Paolo Romero