Oil firms cut pump prices by 50¢ per liter

Oil companies yesterday implemented another 50-centavo per liter rollback on the pump prices of their products.

Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Chevron Philippines Inc. and Total cut the prices of their diesel, gasoline and kerosene products due to the continuing decline in oil prices in the international market.

The latest rollback of the oil companies would only match the P1 per liter price cut implemented by PTT Philippines.

Shell and Petron reduced their pump prices by 50 centavos per liter last Monday but small player PTT reduced its prices by P1 per liter.

Total announced a 50 centavos per liter (Vat inclusive) rollback for its gasoline, diesel and kerosene products effective today at 6 a.m.

Meanwhile, officials of the Department of Energy (DOE) inspected the refinery of Petron in Bataan to counter check the delivery of 2,000 metric tons of LPG.

Petron assured the public that the firm has enough supply of liquefied petroleum gas, noting that another 12,000 metric tons of LPG will be shipped within this month.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes admitted that consumers might have to wait for another two weeks for the LPG supply situation to normalize.

There were warnings that the lack of LPG would affect the transport sector since many taxicabs are now running on LPG.

For weeks now, consumers have been complaining about the short supply of LPG, particularly in Parañaque, Las Piñas, Quezon City and Caloocan.

Reyes said dealers should not take advantage of the situation.

“We will go after those unscrupulous individuals who will take advantage of the situation. We will look at reports of overpricing of LPG if there are any,” he said.

In another development, Unioil Philippines has entered into an agreement with Yamaha Philippines for the supply of lubricants.

Unioil general manager Chito Medina-Cue said the agreement is a testament to the strength of Unioil’s products and the reputation the company has generated for its reliability as a supplier of inexpensive yet high-quality oil products.

“There is no doubt that this contract is a testament to our company’s growing strength to provide all kinds of oil products,” Medina-Cue said during the recent signing ceremony attended by top Yamaha officials at the motorcycle firm’s office at the Laguna Technopark in Biñan, Laguna.

Under the agreement, Unioil shall blend all Yamalube Oils for Yamaha’s after market sales product category.

The specifications of Yamalube Oils were given and approved by Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd in Japan. Such oils are Yamalube Business designed for heavy loading motorcycles, Yamalube Performance for single and high-speed motorcycles, Yamalube AT and Yamalube Gear Oil designed for automatic motorcycles.

Recently, Unioil also signed two contracts with Silver Tire Traders, Inc. (STTI), a known lube distributor in General Santos City, which was ranked no. 1 in 2007.

Medina-Cue said the contract signing would pave the way for Unioil’s entry in the region and added that he hopes it would be the beginning of a long-term relationship between the two companies.–Donnabelle Gatdula, Philippine Star