Several oil players enforced “big-time” reductions on their pump prices at different times Saturday even as one of them hiked its price for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The weekend price movement was initiated by Seaoil Philippines, which at 12:01 a.m. Saturday pulled down prices of diesel and kerosene by P2 per liter.

The rollback also covered prices of premium and unleaded gasoline, which were slashed P1.50 a liter and those of regular gasoline, which was dropped by P1 per liter.

Other independent players Total Philippines imposed a similar rollback at 6 a.m. while Unioil Petroleum Philippines, Inc. (UPPI) said it matched the cutback of its rival oil companies.

Meanwhile, Total, a major LPG player in the local market, said it increased its cooking gas prices by P1 a kilo at around the same time.

Among the “Big Three” oil firms, only Pilipinas Shell announced a price adjustment as of press time Saturday afternoon.

In a text advisory, the oil giant said that it would slash pump prices by the same increments effective 12:01 a.m. Sunday. Reports also said that Petron will also join the rollback bandwagon.

Chevron Philippines (formerly Caltex) has yet to announce price tweaks as of press time.

Despite this, Saturday marked the first time this year that oil companies implemented back-to-back reductions on pump prices. Luckily for consumers, both adjustments have been significant ones.

Citing the decline in international product prices, local oil firms last May 7 rolled back diesel by P1.75 a liter; kerosene by P2 a liter, unleaded gasoline by P0.50 a liter and regular gasoline by P1.25 a liter.

The average prices of fuel in Metro Manila are now as follows: P46.50 a liter for diesel; P56.50 a liter for unleaded and P55 a liter for kerosene.

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Despite the financial crunch, Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc. has committed to expand its retails network this year.

Unioil general manager Luisito Medina-Cue said they would open two more service and retail stations located at strategic in Quezon City and Caloocan.

He said the new stations form part of the company’s expansion program that also involves the upgrading of existing facilities in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

“Despite the current crisis, there are business opportunities and while everybody is slowing down, Unioil will pursue its expansion plan and will build more stations this year,” Cue said.

The opening of the two stations would enable Unioil to reach more customers and provide them with affordable yet quality petroleum products, he said.

Cue added that they are currently looking for additional sites in Metro Manila and nearby provinces to put up similar facilities.

“On top of the two stations currently under construction, Unioil is targeting six more sites in Manila, Cainta, Pasig, Las Piñas, Makati and Pasay for the initial expansion program this year,” he added.

The company has 40 existing stations nationwide.

The construction of additional service stations and upgrading of existing facilities is part of Unioil’s P90 million-expansion program started last year.

Cue said the expansion program is a testament to Unioil’s growing financial and technical capability considering that it started in 1966 as a “recycling” plant engaged in refining used engine oil.

He said they are currently looking for more sites in Metro Manila to put up service stations where motorists can buy inexpensive yet high-quality petroleum products.

By Donnabelle L. Gatdula, Philippine Star

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PTT Philippines Corp. (PTTPC), the local arm of PTT Public Ltd. Co. of Thailand, launched last January 28, 2009 its new ethanol-blended gasoline, Performa 95+.

PTTPC president Siripong Phoungpaka, said they have invested about P6 million to be able to comply with the ethanol blend requirement under the biofuels law.

Under Republic Act 9367 or the Biofuels Act of 2006, oil companies are required to blend five percent ethanol in their gasoline products starting Feb. 6, 2009. By 2010, this blend will be increased to 10 percent.Phoungpaka said the investment is minimal since they have already been blending ethanol in Thailand since 1985.

The PTTPC official, however, said they would be pouring in about P500 million to expand its network this year with plans to put up 16 more retail stations all over the country.

The company presently has 34 stations. Each station costs around P5 million to P25 million to build.

PTTPC started offering Performa 95 at its Park n’ Fly Service Station in Pasay City, officially kicking off the offering of the product in all of its stations nationwide.

Performa 95+ (E10) has a higher oxygen content, promoting improved engine combustion resulting in lower greenhouse gas emission and better vehicle performance. It can be used in all cars with fuel-injected engines and there is generally no need for any expansive engine improvement or modification.

Phoungpaka urged the Philippine government to come up with concrete policies to lure investors to put up more ethanol processing plants in the country.

By Donnabelle L. Gatdula, Philippine Star

Tsikot.com Philippines

Unioil Philippines Inc. is investing up to P160 million next year to put up at least eight new retail stations in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Chito Medina-Cue Jr. told reporters over the weekend that they have already identified the areas for the new gas networks.

Cue admitted that they will be more aggressive next year despite the financial crunch.

“Unioil constructed only two stations this year. But we will continue to invest more. Our customers want us to set up more stations,” he said.The company, will tap loans from local banks to finance its expansion program next year.

He said they would be constructing about seven stations in Metro Manila and one in Laguna. They are looking at areas in Manila, Quezon City and Pasig as the potential sites for its new stations.

Cue said the expansion plan, however, is still being finalized and the number of stations may still be increased.

Despite the uncertainties in the oil industry, he said they remain bullish on the prospects for 2009.

“We are expecting demand to increase next year. This is why we believe there is a need to expand our network,” he said.

by Donnabelle Gatdula, Philippines Star

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The government will spend about P49.1 billion for the Alternative Fuels Program next year, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said yesterday.

He noted that bulk of the program will go to biofuels development at P25.6 billion which is 20.75 percent higher than the P21.2 billion allocated for the biofuels program this year.

The Biofuels Act, principally authored by Zubiri, mandates a two percent biodiesel blend and 10 percent ethanol blend for gasoline starting January next year.According to the Bukidnon lawmaker, the Natural Gas Vehicle Program for Public Transport will receive P8.7 billion of the total budget allocation, autogas (or auto LPG conversion) program gets P4.4 billion and the hydrogen development program, P10.4 billion.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is intensifying efforts to massively convert jeepneys and tricycles into auto-LPG run vehicles just as what has been done to taxis.

Auto-LPG is priced lower than diesel and is one of the most efficient ways to help reduce the impact of high oil prices.

The DOE is also currently studying the utilization of hydrogen as vehicle fuel.

The Alternative Fuels Program is one of the five key components of the Arroyo administration’s Energy Independence Agenda, which outlines the roadmap that will lead to the country’s attainment of 60 percent energy self-sufficiency by 2010.

At the same time, Zubiri is also pushing for the passage of the Renewable Energy Bill to address the rising cost of electricity.

“The passage of the Renewable Energy Bill gains more urgency as the President acknowledged that the lower growth rate and rising inflation were direct results of the high price of crude for fuel and electricity,” he said.

Zubiri said the country’s budget allocation of P1.415 trillion for 2009 gives priority not only to alternative fuels but also to the housing sector.

“Construction and the shelter sectors are known as good generators of other economic activities and a good supplier of steady stream of jobs. Most important, it satisfies a basic need of a Filipino family,” said Zubiri, chairman of the Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement.

By Donnabelle Gatdula, Philippine Star

Tsikot.com Philippines

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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