‘Big 3,’ three minor players roll back oil prices

Prices of petroleum products will be 20 to 30 centavos per liter cheaper as the country’s leading oil firms announced a price rollback effective today.

Petron Corp., Caltex Philippines Inc. and Pilipinas Shell Corp. were joined by three smaller oil firms Total, Unioil and Eastern in implementing a price cut as world crude prices continued to drop after the tension over the US-Iraq war died down.

Gasoline products will be reduced by 30 centavos per liter while prices of diesel products will be lowered by 20 centavos. Meanwhile, prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will be cut by P1 per kilo or P11 per 11-kilo cylinder.

"This rollback is part of a series of downward adjustments that the company will be implementing this month to reflect the decrease in crude prices in the international market," Petron’s communication manager Virginia Ruivivar said.

"We are hopeful that crude prices will continue to remain stable at lower levels," she said.

With the price cut, the suggested retail price in Metro Manila of Petron’s XCS Plus is P20.99 per liter while its Diesel Max will be sold at P15.75 per liter. Petron’s LPG product, Gasul, will be sold at a retail price of P283-P293 per 11-kg tank.

"With the Iraq war officially over, we can safely say that the Philippines has successfully survived the oil crisis triggered by the Iraq crisis without resorting to any transport fare increase and import duty supervision," Energy Secretary Vincent Perez said yesterday.

Petron, the only publicly listed oil firm in the Philippine stock market and 40 percent owned by the government, was the first to announce a price rollback yesterday. It was also the first to implement a rollback this year when it reduced the price of its diesel by 40 centavos per liter last March 29. This was followed by three more price reductions on April 4, 16 and 23.

Earlier in the day, Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta urged Petron, Shell, Caltex and other oil companies to substantially cut the pump prices of their products.

Oreta said crude oil prices in the world market have fallen by nearly $9 from $31.18 per barrel in February before the US invasion of Iraq to $22.36 on April 7.

She said world prices continue to fall apparently because of the prospect of Iraq pumping its oil wells and exporting crude. Oreta noted that Iraq has the largest oil deposits in the world after Saudi Arabia. – With Jess Diaz