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By Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo, Reporter
Already hobbled with rising food and electricity
prices, there is no end in sight for consumers’ woes as oil
companies once again hiked fuel and cooking gas prices at the start
of the weekend.
Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.,
Chevron Philippines, Inc. and Total (Philippines) Corp., increased
the price of their pump products by P1 for gasoline, P0.50 for
diesel, and P0.50 for kerosene on Saturday.
The price hike, the 11th implemented by the oil
companies this year, was an offshoot of previous under recoveries
the oil companies incurred from the high prices of oil in the world
market, which continues to increase by the day.
The price hike is expected to jack up the
prevailing retail price of gasoline roughly between P49.33 to P51.57
per liter; diesel at P41.67 to P43.97 per liter; and kerosene at
P46.15 to P49.30 per liter in Metro Manila.
Although they have yet to make similar
announcements at press time, other oil firms are expected to follow
suit.
Data from the Department of Energy showed that
as of the start of May up to the 15th, the regional benchmark Dubai
crude was averaging at $115.46 per barrel, up from its April average
of $103.41 per barrel.
Compared with the previous month, prices of
finished petroleum products at the Mean of Platts Singapore as of
May 9 also rose to $126.26 per barrel from $118.08 per barrel for
unleaded gasoline; and $153.52 per barrel from $141.98 per barrel
for diesel.
LPG prices hiked
Aside from pump prices, Petron and Total hiked
the price of their liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products by P0.50
per kilogram, exclusive of the value added tax (VAT).
On Wednesday, LPG distributors under the
Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association—such as Omni Gas,
Pinnacle Gas, Island Gas, Cat Gas and Nation Gas—also increased
their cooking gas products by P2 per kilogram.
The increase in cooking gas prices was
attributed by the oil firms to the higher contract price for LPG in
the world market, which rose to $852.50 in May, up by $42.50 from
the previous month.
The price of an 11-kilogram LPG cylinder is
expected to rise between P575.00 to P626.75 in the light of the
recent increase implemented by the companies.
Since the start of 2008, world oil prices have
rocketed over 25 percent and have more than doubled in the past 12
months.
Among the culprits being pinned for the soaring
price of oil are rising global energy demand especially from Asian
powerhouse economies China and India; geopolitical unrests in oil
producing countries in the Middle East and Africa; market
speculations; and tightening supply.
In light of the unabated increases in world oil
prices, various groups are sounding off the call for government to
remove taxes imposed on power and petroleum to provide respite for
consumers, who have had to deal with increasing prices of basic
commodities.
Although there are pending bills before the
House of Representatives and the Senate calling for the abolition of
the VAT on power and petroleum products, “there have been no
significant movements regarding these bills because the
administration has gone on record opposing its removal,” Ramon
Ramirez, convenor of the People Opposed to Warrantless Electricity
Rates (POWER), said.
But consumer advocate groups such as POWER may
have found an ally in Congress in Sen. Manuel Roxas 3rd, who has
expressed support for such a measure, but fell short of calling for
a total removal of taxes on petroleum products.
Roxas said that suspending VAT on oil will
result to savings worth P60 to P63 per 11-kilogram tank of LPG; and
P4.60 per liter of diesel and P5.40 per liter of gasoline.
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