Oil firms roll back pump prices

MANILA, Philippines - Oil companies have implemented another price rollback effective today.

Eastern Petroleum Corp., an independent oil company behind the new liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) brand EC Gas, was the first to announce a downward price movement of 70 centavos for diesel and 35 centavos per liter of gasoline.

“Effective 12:01 Tuesday, March 18, Eastern Petroleum will roll back the price of diesel by 70 centavos while all gasoline products will be rolled back by 35 centavos due to lower international price average last week as against the previous week,” Eastern Petroleum said.

Petron Corp., the country’s biggest oil refiner, also announced a 65-centavo rollback for diesel, slightly lower than the 70 centavos announced by Eastern, and a 30-centavo per liter reduction for gasoline.

“Petron will implement the following price rollbacks: Turbo Diesel and Diesel Max by 65 centavos per liter, Blaze 100, XCS, Xtra Advance and Super Xtra by 30 centavos and kerosene by 70 centavos per liter. This reflects movements in the international oil and biofuels markets,” Petron said.

Another oil company, Seaoil Philippines, issued a similar announcement. Seaoil will cut its gasoline price by 30 centavos per liter, diesel by 65 centavos and kerosene by 70 centavos per liter.

Meanwhile, PTT Philippines, the local subsidiary of Thailand’s biggest oil company, said it would implement a rollback on the price of diesel by 65 centavos and 30 centavos per liter for gasoline.

Other oil companies are expected to follow suit but have not issued similar announcements as of press time.

In its March 4 oil price monitoring report, the Department of Energy said global oil markets showed marginal fluctuations of prices, supported by mixed reports of export snags in Libya and South Sudan, concern over street protests in Venezuela (a major oil supplier to the US) and weak economic growth in the world’s biggest economies – the US and China.

“Specifically for gasoline, fundamentals in the Asian market remained bearish with Platts, citing adequate supplies as a factor that weighed on prices. Yet, there are expectations that the second quarter refinery turnaround season in Asia could mop up inventories, which have been rising in recent days,” the DOE said.