Unioil announces 'big time' cut in fuel prices

MANILA, Philippines - Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc. announced yesterday “real big time” price cuts of P4.75 per liter for gasoline, P3.50 for diesel and P1.50 for kerosene.

“Our decision is to give motorists the lowest gasoline price in the market wherein all motorists, regardless if they are credit card or cash customers, will be given outright discounts on our products,” Unioil general manager Chito Medina-Cue Jr. said.

He said the latest price cuts run counter to the usual market strategy of other oil firms of cross-subsidizing diesel prices by setting gasoline prices at much higher levels.

“Presently, we are seeing an eight- percent rebate on fuel credit card purchases and we are contemplating to give more than the eight percent in terms of outright discounts,” he said.

Last year, Unioil set the trend among local oil players with its big-time price rollbacks.

Medina-Cue said the decision to significantly lower pump prices at that time was prompted by the steady decline in world crude prices as well as by the company’s earlier commitment to sell quality petroleum products at fair prices.

Prior to the latest rollback, Unioil’s unleaded gasoline sold for P39.69 per liter; Quantum Premium Gasoline, P40.19;  regular unleaded, P39.41; E10, P39.44; Pure Diesel Plus, P31.04; and kerosene, P39.94.

Last June 29, Unioil also rolled back the prices of its petroleum products by as much as P1.25 a liter for gasoline, P1 for diesel and 75 centavos for kerosene.

The company, one of the country’s leading independent oil players, has 41 service stations and retail outlets in Luzon. It is implementing a P90-millionexpansion program involving the construction of additional outlets in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces this year.

It has also set a major expansion program for its lubricant business with plans to have 10 distributors in the Southern Tagalog region, Bicol, Northern Luzon, Western Visayas and Mindanao within the year.

Militants’ demand

Meanwhile, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) demanded sharper cuts in oil prices, citing the significant decline in global crude prices in recent days.

The group said that under the Arroyo administration, pump prices of socially sensitive oil products like diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) have increased sharply. When Arroyo became president in January 2001, the pump price of diesel was only P13.82 a liter. More than eight years later, diesel now costs P33.29 a liter, or a jump of 141 percent. LPG price, Bayan added, has risen by as much as 146 percent since 2001 while kerosene prices rose by 171 percent.

“There has to be a substantial rollback in oil prices to reflect the significant drop in world oil prices. Crude now stands at $60/barrel, down from a high of $71/barrel. The latest rollback of P1.50/liter is definitely not enough. The oil companies continue to profit immensely by not implementing a substantial rollback,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes Jr.