MANILA, Philippines – The Big Three oil firms – Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Philippines Inc. – reduced their pump prices yesterday by P1 per liter, following earlier price rollbacks of independent petroleum players.
PTT Philippines and Total Philippines Inc. also trimmed their prices by P1.
Petron public affairs manager Virginia Ruivivar said since August, retail prices for both gasoline and diesel have decreased by P18 per liter.
Competition is getting stiffer in the oil market as players tend to price their products differently, unlike in the previous years, industry officials noted.
Seaoil Philippines Inc. and Flying V, two of the country’s most aggressive oil companies, implemented a P2.50 per liter rollback on all of their products the other day.
An industry official who asked not to be identified said a lot of these competitive pressures would prevail in the market as prices are seen to further go down by the end of the year, with global petroleum prices dropping to $55 per barrel.
“We may see more price reductions in the coming weeks. It is a matter of who will initiate it among the oil companies,” the official said.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said it expects more oil price cuts next month. – Donnabelle Gatdula