Oil Firms Roll Back Gasoline, Diesel Prices by P1
August 14, 2008 by Tsikot
Dismissing the possibility of one-time big rollback, oil players have reduced their prices by P1 per liter on all their pump products.
The reduction was higher than anticipated as oil firms were expected to cut prices by only 50 centavos per liter for diesel.
Echoing the view of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, oil companies believed that the continuing drop in world oil prices would mean subsequent oil price rollbacks in the domestic front.
Flying V chairman Ramon Villavicencio said they are looking at another P3 per liter cut on pump prices.
Villavicencio noted that for the period Aug. 1 to 15, there was a drop of $17 per barrel in gasoline and $27 per barrel in diesel which could redound to an equivalent P3 per liter drop in local pump prices.
“Today, we rolled back prices by P1. Based on the average MOPS (Mean of Platts Singapore) for the first half of August, we can rollback by P3 on Sept. 3. This (rollback) can be increased further if the MOPS for the second half of August decreases further,” he explained.
But Villavicencio admitted that there are other factors affecting their pricing and they have to study how much would be the level of price rollbacks in the coming weeks.
Petron Corp. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., two big oil refiners of the country, followed yesterday the lead of Flying V and other small oil firms in the latest round of price rollback for gasoline, diesel and kerosene at P1 per liter.
Chevron will reduce its prices of Caltex gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and fuel oil by P1 per liter starting at 12.01 a.m. today.
Eastern Petroleum Corp., which cut pump prices at 6 p.m. yesterday, was the first to announce the rollback.
“This is the third rollback in just 15 days for gasoline totaling P3.50 and the second for diesel totaling P1.50 per liter,” Eastern Petroleum president Fernando Martinez said.
“Petron will implement a P1 per liter rollback in prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene effective 12:01, Aug. 15, Friday,” Petron public affairs manager Virginia Ruivivar said.
The recent price rollback will bring the price of unleaded gasoline at P55.70 from P58.26, kerosene at P57.80 from P59.76, and diesel at P54.30 from P57 per liter.
Last week, oil firms also cut gasoline prices by P1 per liter and 50 centavos per liter the previous week.
Reyes earlier said the oil firms might consider a one-time rollback as they had implemented a big oil price hike when global prices were at their peak.
An oil company official said the big time oil price increase of P3 per liter they implemented was later on “recalled” due to the “moral suasion” of the government.
However, Reyes said the oil firms would still have to decide whether they would base their prices on Dubai crude, the pricing benchmark of oil refiners such as Petron and Pilipinas Shell which dropped to $116.17 per barrel as of Aug. 13 compared to July average of $131.27 per barrel.
Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), benchmark of oil importers, for unleaded gasoline, averaged at $117.53 per barrel from $135.27 per barrel in July.
MOPS for diesel averaged $140.16 per barrel from $168.01 per barrel in July.
By Donnabelle Gatdula, Philippine Star
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wow, finally! i still do expect the one time big rollback. napakalking ginhawa, sna bumaba pa, as expected, oil price have been up for so long that it has nowhere to go but down.. and fast!
now it's down to around 111$ a barrel. hopefully the trend continues and will be reflected at the local pump's prices.
see news from msnbc:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12400801/
NEW YORK - Oil fell to its lowest price in three months Friday, briefly touching the $111 level after the dollar muscled higher and OPEC predicted the world’s thirst for fuel next year will fall to its lowest point since 2002.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell $1.24 to settle at $113.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after falling to $111.34, its lowest price since May 2 and more than $35 — or 24 percent — below its July 11 trading record above $147.
As high energy costs force countries around the globe to cut back on consumption, crude prices have plummeted and are now within striking distance of $100 a barrel, a level first reached Feb. 19.