By Myrna Velasco
It will be a punishing week chiefly for public utility vehicles (PUVs) as diesel prices will climb higher by P0.60 per liter at the domestic pumps this week, as advised by the oil companies.
(Mark Balmores / MANILA BULLETIN)
Gasoline prices will be on a leaner adjustment of P0.10 per liter, according to the oil industry, as this commodity had been on more stable pricing state in the world market.
As of this writing, the oil companies that already sent notices on pricing adjustments include Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, PTT Philippines, Chevron, Phoenix Petroleum, Total and Seaoil – all effective 6:00am on Tuesday (August 28); while the rest of their industry competitors are anticipated to follow.
But while diesel prices are on uptick, loyal customers of Pilipinas Shell would be on a “more favorable territory” this week, as the oil firm announced its additional discount of P0.25 per liter primarily for the public utility jeepneys.
This is the response of the Anglo-Dutch firm’s local subsidiary to the call of the Department of Energy (DoE) for additional cost discount for the PUVs, instead of forcing the industry on mandatory sale of Euro-2 diesel, a quality downgrade for such commodity in the market.
Shell announced to the media that it had started its expanded cost discount program to PUVs last August 25 (Saturday); and it covered 50-percent of its retail stations, “where there is high density of public utility jeepneys.”
The oil company qualified that the price reduction offer is “in lieu of re-introducing Euro-2 diesel fuels,” at its retail networks – which could have been a difficult regression to fuel standard that will also entail additional investments on the part of the oil companies.
The energy department said it is amenable to the ‘price discounts counter-offer’ of the oil companies because it is aligned with their goal to ease the burden of the transport sector, chiefly those catering to the mobility needs of the greater public base.
Shell stressed that it will continue “to support the government through DoE in alleviating the plight of the motorists and the general public.”
If the Euro-2 sale mandate had been enforced, the company opined that it will “take 3-6 months to implement due to necessary added infrastructure and facilities needed to adapt to the proposed fuel option.”
It similarly pointed out that the fuel standard reversion to lower quality may also have “minimal to zero net benefit given the additional cost.”
And the negative facet of it will be for the fuel prospectively “posing potential health and environmental risks because of the higher sulfur content.”