MANILA, Philippines—The prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene went up by P1 a liter and of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by P1 a kilogram over the weekend, as oil firms scrambled to recover as much as P7 a liter in unrecovered costs for gasoline and diesel.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. raised its pump prices at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, followed by Petron Corp., Chevron Philippines Inc. and Eastern Petroleum Corp. at 6 a.m.

Total (Philippines) Corp. increased its LPG prices at 12:01 a.m. and its gasoline, diesel and kerosene prices at noon Saturday.

The oil firms cited the continued rise in international oil prices, as well as their under-recoveries as the reason for the latest price hike, the ninth for the year for gasoline, diesel and kerosene for a total of P5 a liter.

All-time high

According to industry data, the regional benchmark Dubai crude averaged $103.41 a barrel in April, almost $7 a barrel higher than the March average of $96.76 a barrel.

Dubai crude surged to an all-time high of $110.20 a barrel on April 28.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Eastern Petroleum chair and chief executive Fernando Martinez said oil firms had no choice but to raise prices by P1 a liter this time—twice the usual 50-centavos-a-liter price adjustment.

He pointed out that they had yet to recover as much as P7 a liter in fuel costs—P3 a liter for gasoline and P4 a liter for diesel.

Hard times

“These are really hard times. International prices are going up very quickly, yet we can’t just fully reflect those increases at the pump. Because we’ve been adjusting prices by 50-centavos-a-liter increments, we now have to recover as much as P7 a liter,” he said.

Geopolitical issues such as recent attacks on a Nigerian oil pipeline, a threatened workers’ strike at a Scotland refinery, and the reported firing of rockets at a Japanese oil tanker by pirates all contributed to the global supply uncertainty resulting in higher prices.

With the new price adjustment, prices of premium unleaded gasoline now ranged between P46.17 and P50.65, diesel between P38.91 and P43, and kerosene between P43.30 and P48.80 a liter, inclusive of the 12-percent valued-added tax.