Seaoil Philippines will roll back the price of its products by P0.40 per liter of kerosene, P0.25 per liter of gasoline and P0.20 per liter of diesel today, Monday, to reflect the movement of prices in the world oil market.
Seaoil cut its pump prices effective at 6 a.m. on July 22, while the other oil companies are expected to follow suit.
PetroGazz announced it will also cut pump prices by the same level starting 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
World oil prices jumped on Friday due to reports of Iran’s capture of UK-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
However, the price averages for the entire week last week declined on worries of a slowdown in demand due to the US-China trade dispute and the US-Iran tensions.
On July 16, most of the oil companies implemented a per-liter price increase on petroleum products. Gasoline increased by P1.05 per liter and kerosene and diesel also increased by P0.70 per liter.
According to the Energy department, the year-to-date adjustments stand at a net increase of P6.20 per liter of gasoline, P4 per liter of diesel and P1.75 per liter of kerosene.
The Energy department said last week that its move to unbundle oil prices was not a form of regulation contrary to the claims of the oil companies.
“The unbundling circular was issued in the first place since the secretary is of the belief that the asking of information and not the dissemination of information is expressly authorized under the oil deregulation law. It is in no way a form of regulation,” Energy Assistant Secretary Leonido Pulido said.
READ: DoE defends oil price unbundling amid TRO
The oil companies had filed and were granted a temporary restraining order against the department from issuing a circular that seeks to unbundle the components of petroleum prices.
The oil firms asked the courts to stop the implementation of DC2019-05-0008, the Revised Guidelines for the Monitoring of Prices in the Sale of Petroleum Products by the Downstream Oil Industry, which aims to promote transparency in oil prices.
Under the circular, oil companies are required to report their “unbundled price adjustments” to include import costs, tax burdens, biofuel costs and other essential cost components that contribute to the changes in retail prices, including industry take or profit.
The oil companies said they would lose their competitive advantage once they complied with the circular.
