You’ll have enough cooking gas, public assured

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Energy (DOE) has assured the public of an adequate supply of cooking gas, even in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, which were devastated by the massive flooding spawned by the recent incessant monsoon rains.

In a statement, the DOE said that the major oil players had advised it that they had enough supplies, but  some of their outlets may encounter delivery problems because of the floods.

Thus customers have been advised to order through their “tawag centers.”

The major players include Petron Corp., Total Philippines, Liquigaz and Isla Gas, which earlier acquired the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) business of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.

Some independent refillers and small retailers, meanwhile, are still waiting for their supplies from import vessels that had been unable to dock and discharge their deliveries of LPG due to the rough seas and high waves at the Bataan port.

If the flooding subsides and the good weather continues, the supply of independent refillers is expected to normalize early next week, the DOE said.

Overpriced LPGs

“In light of this condition, we warn retailers not to take advantage of the situation and note that based on our monitoring after the August price increase, the retail price for an 11-kilogram LPG tank should be around P700,” the DOE said.

“We appeal to customers to report to DOE retailers who are selling overpriced products by calling (02) 8402184. Overpricing of petroleum products such as LPG is penalized with an administrative fine of at least P10,000 and an appropriate criminal offense,” it said.

LPG players raised the prices of cooking gas by P7 per kilogram this month, or P77 per 11-kg tank, due to the $168.50-per-metric-ton increase in the international contract price of LPG to $775 per MT from $606.50 per MT the previous month.

Last month, small independent players, led by LPG Marketers Association party-list  Rep. Arnel Ty,  raised an issue over what was deemed to be an artificial shortage.

Ty allegedly traced the shortage to the move of some suppliers to hold on to their inventories until a price increase had been announced for August.