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CONSUMERS must redo their budgets once again after oil
companies Chevron Philippines Inc., Petron Corp.,
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and Total (Philippines)
Corp. hiked gasoline, diesel and kerosene prices by
P1.50 per liter over the weekend to reflect the
continuous increase in world oil prices.
On
Saturday, Total also increased the price of liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) by P1 per kilo or P11 for an 11-kilo
tank.
Oil
companies said the increase in cooking-gas prices is due
to the increase in the international contract price of
LPG equivalent to P3.30 per kilo.
Oil
officials said the staggered increase in the price of
LPG is much lower than the increase effected by other
LPG players.
According to the Department of Energy (DOE), oil
benchmark Dubai crude averaged $119.46 barrel in May
from $103.41 per barrel in April.
The
department also noted that Mean of Platts Singapore
(MOPS)-based gasoline averaged $130.92 per barrel in May
from $118.08 per barrel in April, while MOPS-based
diesel averaged $161.23 per barrel in May from $141.98
per barrel in April.
The DOE
added that the price of LPG has increased to $855.50 per
metric ton this month from just $812 per metric ton in
April. As of May 24, the DOE reported that the per liter
price of unleaded gasoline ranges from P50.33 to P52.57
per liter; diesel
at P42.80 per liter to P45.47 per liter; kerosene at
P47.15 per liter to P50.80 per liter; and LPG ranging
from P582 per 11-kilo to P628 per 11-kilo tank.
The DOE
earlier announced that the tariff rate on crude and
refined petroleum products will be at zero-rated
effective this month after it conducted a 15-day review
of Dubai and diesel benchmark prices in the
international market from May 1 to 15.
The
trigger point for cutting import duties from 3 percent
to 2 percent is $83 per barrel for Dubai and $105 for
MOPS-based diesel, including cost of freight and
insurance premiums.
The
trigger point to cut import duties from 2 percent to 1
percent is at $92 per barrel for Dubai crude and $110
for MOPS-based diesel.
For a
zero import duty, the trigger point is set at $103 per
barrel for Dubai and $115 per barrel for MOPS-based
diesel; however, this excludes cost of freight and
insurance premiums.
The
15-day review is part of the automatic tariff-adjustment
mechanism which is based on certain triggers indexed to
international crude-oil prices. The average price of
Dubai crude and diesel in the international market was
above $115.46 per barrel and $153.52 per barrel,
respectively, during the period May 1 to 15 this year.
Citing
Executive Order 691 that provides for the temporary
adjustment of rates of import duty on crude and refined
petroleum products and on the DOE Circular that presents
the implementing guidelines for EO 691, the DOE issued a
certification stating that average prices of crude and
diesel for this period qualified for the zero-rated
import duty.
The
tariff rate will be automatically restored to the
appropriate level once international crude oil prices go
below the trigger prices. |
