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IN the
estimation of one of the “Big Three” oil companies in
the Philippines, the oil market may not be so volatile
during the holidays and the country can expect some
relief from the continual increase in fuel prices.
“More or
less, there will be no movements in oil prices until the
end of the month,” said Edgar O. Chua, country chairman
of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.
But he
has a caveat—everything will also depend on market
forces so that if these forces do not move upward,
everything will be kept at current levels.
Chua
said they are a little behind, in terms of
underrecoveries, on diesel costs. “The possibility will
always exist that a rollback will happen, especially now
that prices are at an all-time high. So if prices
continue to soften, then obviously people can expect
that petroleum prices will follow, particularly now that
the peso continues to strengthen against the dollar.”
He
claimed they are also not much benefited by high prices
“because we tend to sell less with our products becoming
expensive, and people cannot afford to buy their
requirements as much as they can.” But could their
profits at high prices at least match, if not surpass,
their profits at lower prices at even lower volume? He
did not say.
He said
two factors affect local pump prices—world oil prices
and the foreign exchange rate. “Though prices have gone
down for a while, prices now are again on an upward
trend of between $4 and $5 per barrel. We are in a
wait-and-see attitude.”
The
Department of Energy said the price of unleaded gasoline
at the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) averaged $97.52 a
barrel this month compared with $100.29 a barrel in
November, and that MOPS-based diesel average $108.03 per
barrel [$110.79 in November].
DOE also
reported the international contract price of LPG had
increased to $877.50 a metric ton this month from
$747.50 per metric ton in November.
Consumer
advocate and businessman Raul T. Concepcion, who chairs
the Consumer and Oil Price Watch, said there’s no way we
can see prices go down. For next year, he expects
Dubai crude to continue to average around $80 to $90 per barrel.
“A way
to temper the impact of oil prices on consumers is by
having gasoline users pay more than what diesel users
are paying, or by converting engines to be able to use
compressed natural gas as primary fuel,” he said. |
