|
WITH an
apparent view to preventing panic among consumers on
reports of steady increases in world oil prices, the
Department of Energy (DOE) Wednesday reprimanded local
oil companies for making projections on how much higher
local prices will be as they strive to fill their
claimed underrecoveries.
“We
don’t want people panicking because of an erroneous
statement. So let’s make it an understanding here that
we do not project any price increase without clearing
with DOE,” Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes told
representatives of oil companies.
He said
oil officials can announce past data, but cannot make
statements based on future data—especially those based
on projections of underrecoveries—without clearing these
with the DOE.
Reyes
also ordered oil companies to assure the public that
their inventories are appropriate and necessary. At the
same time, Reyes also criticized Arnel Ty, president of
the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association (LPGMA),
for making premature pronouncements to the
media—particularly the P3.50-per-kilogram increase in
cooking-gas prices his group implemented a week ago.
“You
cannot make announcements based on future projections.
You are announcing and announcing. Do you know what
you’re doing? You’re increasing and increasing your
price ahead of everybody—and then when price increases
don’t materialize, you drop prices to look good. Don’t
be the spokesman of everybody,” Reyes told Ty in the
meeting attended by officials of oil companies.
Reyes
reminded the LPGMA official that this is a market
economy and that he cannot speak on behalf of his
members—since they are supposed to compete among each
other. Ty, on the other hand, blamed LPGMA
suppliers—particularly Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell
Petroleum Corp., Total (Philippines) Corp., and Liquigaz
Philippines Corp. for the P3.50/kilo increase in their
LPG prices.
Jose
Campos, Petron vice president for marketing, quickly
denied that they had any business with the group of Ty.
“And, as a matter of business practice, we never inform
our customers ahead of time what our price is going to
be the next month,” said the Petron official.
Under
the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998,
oil companies are allowed to automatically increase
their pump prices but are not compelled to announce such
moves to the public.
Meanwhile, Peter Lee U, University of Asia and the
Pacific School of Economics dean, said the price
adjustments implemented by oil firms are “reasonable.”
In
December last year, DOE commissioned the University of
Asia and the Pacific and SGV to determine whether oil
companies’ price adjustments from December 2006 to
November 2007 were reasonable. The two entities did the
study for free.
“Oil-price increases have been reasonable. They were not
out of line and are consistent with what they are saying
that they have underrecoveries,” said Lee U, adding that
a number of analysts are saying that oil prices may
continue on its high levels abroad.
”The
best protection the government can offer to consumers is
to have the petroleum industry be more open to new
players to spur competition. The country needs a
credible competition policy with an enforcement agency,”
Lee U said. |
