Small oil players lead P1 per liter rollback

MANILA, Philippines – Another round of fuel price reduction greeted motorists yesterday but militant groups said the cuts were minimal and slow in coming.

Small petroleum players Flying V, Seaoil Philippines, and Unioil Philippines Inc. led yesterday’s rollback of P1 per liter.

Eastern Petroleum Corp., said its chairman Fernando Martinez, implemented its price cuts at 5 a.m. this morning.

The benchmark Dubai crude averaged $111.55 per barrel as of Sept. 2 as against the August 2008 average of $112.86.

Unleaded gasoline based on Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the pricing gauge used by importers, was at $118.65 per barrel as of Sept. 2 or lower than the August 2008 average of $115.49.

The average MOPS Diesel, meanwhile, dropped slightly to $133.25 on Sept.2 from last month’s average of $135.26.

The international contract price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) went down substantially to $828 per metric ton in September from $881 per MT in August.

Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said the latest cuts were not enough, considering that global crude costs have declined substantially.

“World oil prices have gone down to $110 per barrel. There should be tremendous pressure now on the oil firms to lower pump prices,” he said, adding the reduction should be at least P6 to P7 per liter.