DOE orders 6 gas stations to explain higher prices

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) yesterday ordered six Petron stations to explain why they implemented the second round of fuel tax increases for 2019 as early as Jan. 2.

These gas stations are located in San Juan, Concepcion, Tarlac; Barangay Mangan Vaca, Subic, Zambales; MacArthur Highway, San Matias, Sto. Tomas, Pampanga; MacArthur Highway, Dakila, Malolos, Bulacan; Olongapo-Gapan Road, Sta. Ana, Pampanga and Barangay Prado Siongco, Lubao, Pampanga.

“On the average, (the implementation of the additional excise tax) can be in the middle of the month, it can be the end of the month. But there are gas stations reporting to us that they are already implementing the same,” DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said in a press briefing yesterday.

The DOE had earlier directed all oil firms to finish their 2018 oil inventories before applying the second tranche of excise tax increases on petroleum products, which took effect on Jan. 1.

DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the second round of excise tax increases on petroleum products is not for old stock.

The DOE requires oil companies to have a minimum inventory of 15 days. Depending on the location of the gas stations, this means some gas stations may have already used up their 2018 inventory while others still have old stocks available.

 “We consider the factors like fast turnover and the size of their storage facilities,” Fuentebella said.

The DOE has given oil firms until Jan. 8 to submit daily and monthly inventory reports as well as their annual inventory report for the closing of 2018 to properly monitor the implementation of the second tranche of fuel excise tax increases under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.

Fuentebella said the six Petron gas stations submitted a report saying they have raised prices due to the additional excise tax.

“We are asking them to explain. We have this twin approach, the show cause order and the inspection team,” he said.

Petron said these gas stations have low-capacity storage and are directly supplied by its Bataan refinery.

“Petron is one with DOE in ensuring fair and correct implementation of the second tranche of TRAIN 1.  We reported to DOE the list of Petron stations that implemented the additional excise taxes on Jan. 2. These included stations with low storage capacity which reflected the new prices after their old inventories were depleted,” the oil firm said.

“These stations are being supplied from our refinery in Bataan, where the collection of new excise taxes by the government started at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1,” it added.