Oil firms hike pump prices anew

MANILA, Philippines - Oil companies again jacked up prices of petroleum products yesterday, saying that movements in the global crude market merit another price hike.

In separate advisories, oil firms announced another round of price increases effective 6 a.m. yesterday.

Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., and Total Philippines Corp. announced an increase of 95 centavos per liter for premium gasoline, P1.15 per liter for regular gasoline, P0.70 per liter for kerosene and 65 centavos per liter for diesel.

“This reflects movements in the international oil market,” Petron said.

Consumer groups have been calling on the Department of Energy to address the problem of rising oil prices but Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said that global factors have been aggravating the problem.

These include the crisis in Syria and the economic recovery in the United States which, Petilla said, are among the factors boosting demand and tightening supply in the world market.

He said the appreciation of the peso is not enough to mitigate the impact of higher oil prices but acknowledged that local pump prices could be higher if the peso was depreciating against the dollar.

The peso has been appreciating against the dollar, closing at P41.05 against the dollar and has been trading at the P40-level since the start of the year.

To soften the impact of higher oil prices on consumers and public transport groups, the government may revive its Pantawid Pasada program.

The Pantawid Pasada Program, which started in May 2011, is an interim measure of the government to cushion the impact of high fuel prices, particularly on public utility jeepneys.

Under the program, the government provided some 100,000 public transport drivers a fuel subsidy of P1,050.