MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) Local oil firms have slashed prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene by 25 centavos a liter, beginning Monday noon, as world market prices of petroleum products declined last week.
Flying V Philippines and Seaoil Philippines implemented its rollback on Monday while Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. rollback takes effect 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
Despite the rollback this week, multisectoral group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) on Monday called for a substantial rollback of local oil prices as petroleum products remain overpriced by P8.12 a liter between January 2008 and 2010.
Bayan said that it tracked the monthly movement of Dubai crude prices and the foreign exchange rate (forex) from January 2008 to January 2010 to compute the ideal pump price adjustment. It then compared the results with the actual price movement during the same period as monitored by the Department of Energy.
Based on its study, the group said that in January 2010 alone, overpricing reached P1.20 per liter. That month, pump prices should have moved up by only 15 centavos a liter only but actual changes at the pump stations posted an average hike in retail prices of P1.35 per liter, Bayan exclaimed.
For this month alone, local oil companies have raised prices of gasoline by a total of P2.50 a liter and of diesel and kerosene by P2 a liter, over the past three consecutive weeks.
Bayan also stressed that the continued overpricing of oil firms should be condemned especially amid soaring electricity rates as power plants rely more on generation plants running on expensive and overpriced petroleum.
The group also cited the economic difficulties in drought-stricken areas as another reason why oil prices should be reduced.
The February average of Dubai crude was pegged at $76.64 a barrel while the forex rate was at P46.03 to a dollar.
While it does not have a consolidated data yet on actual pump price movement for February and March, Bayan said that in February, there should have been an 83-centavo per liter rollback based on its estimates.
The actual pump price of diesel, however, did not move during the said month while kerosene prices even jumped by 25 centavos per liter, it added.
