Pilipinas Shell claims losses of P1 B in last six months

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (Pilipinas Shell) said it lost more than P1 billion in the past six months.

"The entire oil industry has suffered so much. It is time to make some significant recoveries," said Oscar S. Reyes, president of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (Pilipinas Shell).

Pilipinas Shell earlier said it lost more than P200 million in January and February this year as prices of imported crude oil moved upwards. In the last four months of 1999, Reyes estimated that the oil company lost more than P700 million.

After the March 27 meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) where it pledged to increase production by 1.4 billion barrels, prices of crude slipped to between $23 and $24 per barrel.

Nevertheless, Reyes said the possibility of a price rollback in the immediate future or within April is remote. He pointed out that while prices have stabilized in the $24 level, they still have huge losses to recoup since September last year.

Prices were last increased in March this year by an average P0.80 per liter although it only covered existing price changes and not losses experienced since last year. That could be translated to losses of approximately P2 per liter in local pump prices of petroleum products as Shell purchased crude oil at $24 per barrel but sold the same for something like $22.

Energy Secretary Mario V. Tiaoqui admitted that government is not prepared to forecast a possible rollback in prices of petroleum products.