3 oil firms cut back prices to reflect global trend

AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Local oil companies have slashed prices of petroleum products to reflect the downtrend in prices in the global oil market.

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines was the first to implement a rollback in the prices of premium and regular gasoline by 20 centavos a liter, and of diesel by 80 centavos per liter on Monday night.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. started implementing on Monday the same price adjustment, including a 55-centavo a liter rollback for kerosene products.

Independent player Eastern Petroleum, meanwhile, implemented a higher rollback of 25 centavos per liter for premium and regular gasoline but a lower price cut of 50 centavos a liter for kerosene. Diesel prices were slashed by a similar 80 centavos per liter.

Zenaida Y. Monsada, director of the Oil Industry Management Bureau at the Department of Energy, explained that the decline in fuel prices this week could be attributed to weak markets and adequate fuel inventories globally.

Monsada added that the expected fiscal cliff in the US, which could potentially result in a recession in 2013, might have an impact on global fuel prices.