Thursday, July 10, 2008 Firms announce rollback in gasoline price
RECOVERING from its margins, three oil companies said it is rolling back by P1 per liter the price of their gasoline.
Ramon Villavicencio, chairman of Flying V, noted that while transport sector are dependent on diesel, car owners are mostly gasoline users who also need relief from the skyrocketing prices of fuel.
"If there is a need to immediately lower prices, then we will do it. We have somehow recovered our margins for gasoline unlike diesel where we still have to recover about P6 per liter to become viable," he said.
The rollback will take effect Thursday midnight, Villavicencio said.
Petron Corporations and Shell Pilipinas said they are also rolling back the price of gasoline by P1 per liter.
The price of gasoline is expected to drop to P60.98 per liter.
Diesel, on the other hand, is sold at a high of P54.97 per liter after oil firms increased by P2 per liter their prices just last Saturday. This is the 18th oil price increase for the year.
"The increase in fuel prices reflects the continuing rise in crude costs," Petron officials said.
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) being used in household also went up by P1.50 per kilogram or P16.50 per 11-kg tank. LPG contract price for July went up to US$936.50 per metric ton (MT) from US$912.50 per MT last month.
Latest monitoring conducted by the Department of Energy indicated that unleaded gasoline is sold at P59.10 to P61.98 per liter, diesel at P53 to P54.97, and LPG at P631.50 to P688 per 11-kg tank.
The US light crude went down to US$138.09 per barrel after reaching over US$140 per barrel previously as the dollar strengthened and as the anticipated Atlantic storm cleared away from the oil platforms.
Dubai crude, the benchmark of oil refiners, went up to US$138.48 per barrel from US$127.82 per barrel in June and US$119.50 per barrel in May. (MSN/Sunnex)
