By MYRNA VELASCO
CONSUMERS are in for another round of oil price hike this week with the pump prices of both diesel and gasoline products up by Php0.65 per liter as the Dubai crude, the Asian oil market’s pricing benchmark, was still on a wild upswing last week.
Kerosene product prices are also up by Php0.65 per liter this week, making a dent on households generally using it for their lighting as well as cooking; and will likewise be affecting industries leaning on it, such as the aviation sector.
Oil companies that already sent pricing notices on adjustments were Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Seaoil, Total, PTT Philippines, and Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. – all effective at 6 a.m. on Tuesday (Sept. 11). Its industry competitors are anticipated to follow suit, it being the usual pull of market forces on pricing dynamics.
Dubai crude nearly reached US$75 per barrel last week, a climb from the US$73 per barrel average it has been reaching in the past weeks.
Market watchers have been raising fears of near-term supply crunch that could soon push prices to the edgy US$80 per barrel – and that in major part was instigated by the imposition of sanction on Iran.
And while incessantly rising petroleum prices continue to ignite social pressure upon the government, several oil companies have recently forwarded to the Department of Energy (DoE) the list of their stations that will be offering Pantawid Pasada discounts primarily for public utility jeepneys.
The Pantawid Pasada program is a hybrid subsidy scheme extended to public utility vehicles – one component is the mandatory subsidy provision under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act; and the other fraction accounts for the discounts offered by the oil companies as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative.
The latest batch on the list of gasoline stations offering price discounts are Total Philippines and Chevron which still carries the Caltex brand at its retail networks.
Total submitted to the DOE at least 48 of its stations in Luzon and Visayas that have been offering Pantawid Pasada cost reductions, including those in the provinces of Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Metro Manila, Pampanga, Zambales, Mindoro, Quezon, Iloilo, and Cebu.
For Chevron, it has been granting discounts to a wider base of customers in Metro Manila, the Ilocos Region, Calabarzon (Cavite- Laguna-Batangas Rizal and Quezon provinces), Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, SOCCSKSARGEN and the CARAGA Regions.
