Oil firms cut prices by 50¢

Fuel prices, except those of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), went down yesterday by 50 centavos per liter as global crude costs continued to drop.

For the top three oil firms — Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Chevron (Caltex) Philippines Inc. — the price reduction took effect at 2 p.m. yesterday.

Similar cuts by independent oil companies — Eastern Petroleum Corp., Seaoil Philippines, PTT Philippines, Total Philippines Inc. and Unioil Philippines — took effect one after another between 12 noon and 8 p.m.

The average price of the benchmark Dubai crude was at $53.44 per barrel as of last Jan. 11 as against the December 2006 average of $58.68 per barrel.

The Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the pricing benchmark of oil importers, also softened to $63.37 per barrel for unleaded gasoline and $68.83 for diesel as of January 2007 from December’s level of $68.16 and $72.20, respectively.

On the other hand, the LPG international contract price for January rose to $548.50 per metric ton from $490.50 per MT in December last year and $464 per MT in November in the same year.

The oil firms have raised LPG prices by as much as P2 in recent weeks. The standard 11-kilo cylinder LPG costs from P455.80 to P530.00.

The oil firms said the increases were justified by the steady rise in the contract prices of LPG in the world market.

Before the rollback, unleaded gasoline cost P35.43 to P37.92 per liter; kerosene (P34.19-P39.00); and diesel (P30.77-P34.80). — Donnabelle Gatdula