Gasoline prices slashed anew

MANILA, Philippines - Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Chevron Philippines, Seaoil Philippines, Total, and Phoenix Petroleum have reduced the prices of gasoline effective today.

Petron, Chevron and Seaoil cut prices of regular gasoline by 60 centavos per liter while Shell reduced prices by only 30 centavos per liter.

All four firms rolled back prices of premium gasoline by 30 centavos per liter while there was no adjustment for diesel and kerosene.

“This is to reflect price movements in the international petroleum market,” Seaoil said.

Other oil firms are expected to announce price rollbacks this week.

Independent oil player Flying V slashed prices of regular gasoline by 25 centavos per liter and 30 centavos per liter for premium gasoline last Saturday.

Several oil firms decreased last week the pump prices of premium gasoline by 65 centavos per liter and regular gasoline by 50 centavos per liter. Diesel price was slashed by 40 centavos per liter while kerosene dropped by 25 centavos per liter.

There were reports that talks between Iran and six world powers on Tehran’s nuclear weapons program eased concerns over crude supplies.

Since the start of the year, there were already 12 oil price increases as against six price reductions.

The Department of Energy (DOE) reported that net increase for gasoline and diesel stood at P5.85 per liter and P2.54 per liter, respectively, as of April 15.

Under the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998, oil firms could price their products based on market forces to encourage competition.

The oil deregulation law prohibits the government from intervening or influencing the pricing schemes of oil companies.

The DOE, however, requested oil firms to report to the department any price adjustment before its implementation.