Oil

Palace says it is not ignoring rising oil prices MANILA, Philippines – Former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno is advising the Aquino administration to do something about high fuel prices.

BAGUIO CITY—President Aquino remains firmly opposed to the scrapping or reduction of the 12-percent valued-added tax (VAT) on oil, saying it would only increase demand for oil in the country and eventually drive up local pump prices.

MANILA, Philippines – A global aviation industry group slashed its 2012 profit forecast for airlines all over the world by $500 million as oil prices continue to soar. The Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a statement on Tuesday, March 20, that it expects oil prices, based on Brent crude, to reach an…

SENATOR Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Thursday pushed for a comprehensive review of the oil deregulation law amid the continuing increase in prices of petroleum products.

THE Aquino administration has been reaping a P1-billion-windfall for every dollar increase in the price of oil because of the value-added tax, yet it has cut its spending on public hospitals and state-owned universities, lawmakers said Wednesday on the eve of a nationwide protests against rising fuel prices.

LABOR and transport groups said Wednesday they will stage nationwide protest today, Thursday, to oppose the continuing increase in oil, petroleum and commodity prices and to demand an increase in wages.

Malacaang is bullish on the economy yet it is holding back on a proposal to reduce the 12 percent expanded value added tax (eVAT) on oil by two percent to help ease the burden of the Filipino people.

The government remains vigilant and mindful of the renewed volatility in the prices of petroleum products even as the country’s headline inflation rate in February 2012 slowed down to 2.7 percent, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

MANILA, Philippines – Oil companies implemented yesterday a new round of oil price increases. Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum, Chevron Philippines, SeaOil Philippines and Total Philippines jacked up pump prices of regular and premium gasoline by 50 centavos per liter.

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

President Aquino is seriously considering to use his powers to halt what seemed to be an uncontrollable increases in prices of petroleum oil products. He also assured the public the country has a buffer stock of petroleum products that would still be good for at least 24 days.

THE Department of Energy on Tuesday announced the final members of the Independent Review Committee that will look into the books of oil companies to ensure transparency in fuel pricing.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino assured the public yesterday that the government would address concerns over rising oil prices by providing more assistance to the transport and ensuring stable prices of basic commodities. Aquino said the government is continuously conducting dialogues with transport groups and that measures are being readied to ease their plight. He…

THE Energy department expects the independent audit of oil companies’ books to push through as soon as it completes the term of reference for the participating review committee.

Last Dec. 12, I asked why gasoline in Manila, Seaoil’s P50.99 per liter, is costlier than the costliest in the US, $3.67 per gallon (P39.45 a liter) in San Francisco. The energy department’s Zenaida Y. Monsada, director of the oil industry management bureau, replies:

THE country’s Big Three oil companies remain the most profitable in the industry, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).

A local trade group said the government had indicted the officers of liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association (LPGMA), which the Federation of Philippine Industries said marks the first ever anti-cartel case pursued by the government.

THE Supreme Court (SC) is pitching to Malacañang, the Senate and the House of Representatives a review of the Oil Deregulation Law since the government no longer has control over escalating prices of petroleum products.

The government seems to have missed a golden opportunity to reclaim its ability to influence local prices of oil products after President Aquino turned down yesterday an offer from Petron Corp., now majority owned by conglomerate San Miguel Corp., to sell back to the state the refinery operations of the oil firm.

MAJOR oil players dared their competitors to also open their books for public scrutiny a day after offering their financial records to the government.

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) reiterated yesterday that it needs more power to penalize oil companies found violating trade laws.

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Party-list group 1-United Transport Koalition (1-UTAK) led transport groups and several organizations here in filing a petition Thursday seeking to nullify the Oil Deregulation Law.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd has called for a review of the Oil deregulation Law to make room for a more competitive market in the local petroleum industry.

TO PROTECT PUBLIC FROM PREDATORY PRICING A member of the House of Representatives is seeking the creation of a special body to monitor the prices of petroleum products to protect the public from possible predatory pricing, or mispricing of pump prices by the oil companies.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang yesterday assured the public transport sector that it was ready to implement the second tranche of the Pantawid Pasada or fuel subsidy program even as it again called on various transport groups to reconsider their planned strike.

The labor group, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, urged the Department of Justice through its press release to investigate Petron Corp. for what it called extreme acts that have hampered smaller rivals from freely conducting business.

MANILA, Philippines – Consumers have no choice but to tighten their belts in the wake of runaway increases in the prices of oil. This is what the Aquino administration has been doing, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said yesterday.

The government is not helpless amid the series of increases in fuel prices and can address perceived abuses by oil companies, especially if they’re “over-charging” the public, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – As fuel prices go up anew today, Malacañang admitted it was helpless in the face of the steady increase, saying the nation’s only option at the moment is to “follow the market forces.”

I HAD hoped that a previous column on oil prices would have been the last but with local gasoline prices increasing upwards 15 times already this year alone (2011), answering the question of how to put the brakes on skyrocketing oil prices becomes imperative. Oil firms and government are singing the same tune as to…