Petron hikes prices: 30¢ for gas, 45¢ for diesel and kerosene

Petron Corp., the country’s largest oil refiner, raised yesterday its prices for gasoline by 30 centavos, diesel and kerosene by 45 centavos, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by P1 per kilo.

"We have to match the prices, including LPG, of our competitors," a Petron official said.

The publicly-listed oil firm, partly owned by the government through the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC), followed the moves of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and small independent oil players, which increased their prices by the same level early this week.

It was learned that Caltex Philippines Inc. also raised prices but opted not to announce the price hike to the public.

A company source said Petron would also adopt the same pricing policy of Shell and Caltex.

"We will not be announcing our oil price adjustment prior to its implementation," the source said.

Earlier, Shell external affairs general manager and spokesman Roberto Kanapi said the company will no longer announce price adjustments before they are carried out "to avoid possible price trending."

Shell increased the price of its LPG by P1 per kg.

There was a substantial rise in the contract price of LPG in the international market, Kanapi said.

As of end-August, the contract price of LPG in the world market stood at $341.50 per metric ton and it increased to $383 per MT for September.

Pump prices, upon the request of the Department of Energy (DOE), will be adjusted weekly but in small amounts to cushion the impact on the public.

Small and independent oil firms Eastern Petroleum, Seaoil Philippines Inc., Flying V and Total Philippines Inc. increased their pump prices Monday.

Energy Secretary Vincent Perez said the increase in world oil prices remains unabated, thus domestic oil prices will continue to soar in the next few weeks.

He said he is using moral suasion to convince oil players to adjust their prices in small increments.

Prior to their increase last Monday, Eastern Petroleum and Seaoil announced that they would increase by 60-centavos per liter the price of their diesel, kerosene and gasoline products.

Upon learning of the decision, Perez persuaded the two firms to minimize the adjustment to only 30-centavos per liter, consistent with the DoE’s earlier call to oil companies to implement smaller and frequent adjustments to cushion the impact on consumers.

Meanwhile, to ensure the proper calibration of fuel dispensing pumps, Quezon City treasurer Victor Endriga said they will present an award to Susan Calalay, dealer of the Petron service station along Tomas Morato and Timog Avenue.

The award will be given to Calalay for having the most "accurate dispensing pumps" with tests on all pumps showing zero variance on the calibration bucket.

"It would be my privilege to receive such an honor since it affirms our commitment to protect consumer welfare," Calalay said.

Endriga recently conducted "on-the-spot" testing at the Timog-Morato service station.

He said four of the five Petron stations cited in newspaper reports as allegedly under-selling had actually passed the calibration tests and only one Petron station was found to have calibration problems. The city Treasurer’s office conducted tests at almost 50 stations in Quezon City.

Calalay said Petron’s standard operating procedure requires all dealers to calibrate pumps daily, while a third party contractor inspects the pumps on a regular basis.

To avoid under-filling, dispensing pumps are "sealed" by the local government unit, guaranteeing that the pump is not tampered with, she said.

If the variance at the pump is beyond the limit, then Petron dealers are required to call Petron’s service contractor to adjust the calibration and ask the concerned local government to re-seal the dispensing pump.

Under the DoE’s retail standards, service stations are allowed a variance of up to minus 50 ml per 10 liters. Any number beyond this range is considered illegal.