Petroleum prices up for 5th time

DISTRIBUTORS on Tuesday raised regular gasoline prices by P0.60 a liter, premium gasoline and diesel by P0.25, and kerosene by P0.30.

Power distributor Manila Electric Co. also raised its generation charge by P0.11 per kilowatt hour this month.

Petron, Shell, Seaoil and Total issued separate advisories to reflect the movement in world oil prices. The increase in petroleum prices is the first for this month but the fifth since January.

Gasoline now sells at P50.98 to P60.85 a liter, diesel at P43.84 to P47.43, and kerosene at P49.41 to P55.46.

Meralco said the generation charge for February will go up slightly from January’s P5.46 to P5.57 per kilowatt hour this month. It said it was the result of the higher charges by its suppliers.

The company said the charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market increased by P4.29 a kilowatt hour, contributing P0.09 of the P0.11 per-kilowatt-hour increase in the generation charge.

The National Power Corporation’s rates also went up by P0.04 a kilowatt hour, and mainly because of the shift to more expensive dry-season rates.

The generation charge, the electricity bill’s biggest component, makes up almost 60 percent of the customer’s average monthly power bill. This charge goes directly to Meralco’s power suppliers and not to Meralco. Alena Mae S. Flores, Manila Standard Today