Oil firms want government to scrutinize books

Six oil firms belonging to the Philippine Institute of Petroleum (PIP) are urging the government to form a group that would scrutinize their financial statements, following their announcement on Sunday that they would open their books to the public.

At a joint press briefing Monday, representatives of Chevron (Philippines), Liquigaz Philippines, Petron, PTT Philippines, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum and Total (Philippines) expressed confidence that the additional review would validate previous findings that disproved allegations they engaged in overpricing and collusion.

Roberto S. Kanapi, vice president for corporate communications of Pilipinas Shell, said the additional review would again put to rest fears that oil companies were taking advantage of the volatility in the global oil market through unwarranted increases in pump prices.

He expressed the hope that the probe would give the people a better understanding of the downstream oil industry.

The group’s offer to open their books came after Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas announced last month during a transport strike that President Benigno Aquino III had formed an interagency task force to determine whether there was collusion among oil firms.

Among the demands of the protesters, led by the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide, were a rollback in oil prices and the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law, which allows oil firms to set prices without government approval.

Malou Espina, Total corporate affairs manager, said there was a need for the new review due to continued accusations of overpricing and collusion  made against the oil firms.

The PIP members reiterated that local pump prices were moving in accordance with fluctuations in the global oil market.

They attributed to “market forces at play” the times when oil firms ended up with almost the same prices for their product.

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) urged the oil companies not only to open their books but to also explain to the public the formula they use in determining prices.

“So far, there is no known and accepted formula. Even the Department of Energy relies on mere estimates. The oil firms should also explain how much of their profits actually go to their mother companies,” Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes Jr. said in a text message to reporters.

He said mere disclosure of financial statements was not enough to achieve transparency. “The reality is that the industry is cartelized. We are currently doing a people’s review of the Oil Deregulation Law, the results of which will be made public next month,” he added. With a report from Gil Cabacungan Jr.