OIL companies implemented a hefty increase in pump prices amid soaring oil prices abroad.
In separate statements on Tuesday, Chevron (formerly Caltex) Philippines Inc., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Total (Philippines) Corp. announced an increase of P1.25 per liter for gasoline and P1 for diesel and kerosene.
Shell also jacked up prices of its liquefied petroleum gas products by P1.50 per kilogram.
Roberto Kanapi, Shell vice president for communications, said that the company raised its prices “to reflect the movement in international product prices.”
The oil firms’ price adjustment took effect 6 a.m.of Tuesday.
Besides the three multinational oil companies, local oil firms also implemented their own price increases on the same day.
Eastern Petroleum Corp. raised prices by P2 per liter across all products, while Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. hiked its prices by P1 per liter for diesel and P1.25 per liter for gasoline.
As of press time, other oil firms did not indicate if they would also follow suit with their own[pump-price increases.
Prior to the price increase implemented by the oil companies, diesel was selling between P40.25 and P42.55 per liter and gasoline, between P48.50 and P50.30 per liter.
Jay Layug, Department of Energy undersecretary, said that another round of price hikes may be possible next week as oil companies did not fully reflect the spikes in the price of their petroleum imports.
“It is possible that they will initiate another increase as they appeared to have staggered the increase based on our formula,” he added.
Based on data from the Energy department, oil prices have been on an upswing abroad amid fears of a possible supply disruption as a result of the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.
The decision of China to raise key interest rates for the third time, and, recently, the latter’s near-record imports of crude oil, were also said to have contributed to the uptick in petroleum prices. –Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo, Reporter, Manila Times
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