By: Ronnel W. Domingo -07:12 AM
January 18, 2018
Motorists outside Luzon are still
enjoying pretax reform law fuel prices as filling stations in the Visayas and
Mindanao are taking more time to sell all their old stocks, according to an
industry source.
Across the country, prices of diesel
and gasoline have gone up by about P4 a liter since Jan. 1 amid the combined
effects of the new tax regime, upward pressure from winter demand in the
northern hemisphere, and efforts by crude oil producers to raise prices by
cutting output.
Even then, there may still be some
fuel stations in Luzon that are still not implementing higher excise for
gasoline and new excise for diesel.
Old stocks
“Yes, probably most of our filling
stations are by now reflecting TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and
Inclusion) at the pump, but there are still many stations that still have old
stocks (that were not subject to the new excise tax),” said a middle-level
executive of a major petroleum company, who declined to be identified for not
having the authority to disclose official figures.
“Stations that are already implementing
the TRAIN law are all in Luzon,” he said. “At least, we have not received
reports (that our stations) from outside Luzon (are now doing so).”
Diesel up thrice
He said the speed at which pre-TRAIN
stocks would be depleted depended on the volume of a station’s stock and
consumer demand.
Since Jan. 1, oil companies have
raised the prices of diesel three times for a total of P1.75 a liter. Prices of
gasoline rose twice, resulting in an increase of P1 per liter.
Under the first year of the TRAIN
Act, which is this year, taxes on gasoline will rise by P2.97 a liter,
including VAT. Before the TRAIN law, gasoline was levied a total of P4.87 a
liter.
Diesel will now be taxed at P2.80 a
liter, including VAT.
At the pump, diesel would have moved
up by P4.55 a liter and gasoline by P3.97 a liter with the combined effects of
the new tax law and price movements in the international market.
DOE monitoring
Based on monitoring by the
Department of Energy (DOE), diesel prices in Metro Manila without the effects
of the TRAIN Act ranged from P34.10 to P39.20 a liter.
Prices of gasoline with an octane
rating of 95 did not change and remained at P43.85 to P53.71 a liter.
Taking into account the effects of
the new tax law, diesel prices now range from P36.90 to P42.00 a liter, while
those of gasoline (95 octane) range from P46.82 to P56.68 a liter.
Along Mercedes Avenue in Pasig City,
Pilipinas Shell now sells diesel at P38.00 a liter and gasoline at P50.92. The
station shows a tarpaulin sign that says it is implementing the TRAIN law.
Different prices
About 200 meters away, Petron Corp.
sells diesel at P37.20 a liter and gasoline at P47.62.
About 150 meters farther, PTT
Philippines retails diesel at P35.20 a liter and gasoline at P48.55.
A PTT Philippines official said the
company was still not implementing the new tax law as its pre-TRAIN stock had
yet to run out.
7 companies
Based on DOE’s monitoring on Jan.
16, diesel prices ranged from P27.65 a liter (Flying V) to P33.22 a liter
(Petron). Gasoline prices ranged from P41.20 to 48.30 a liter (Petron).
DOE’s monitoring data provide
figures from seven companies—Petron, Shell, Chevron (Caltex), Seaoil, Flying V,
Unioil Petroleum and Total.
Over the past 12 months, diesel
prices have gone up by about a third or P9 to P10 a liter due to the TRAIN Act.
Similarly, prices of gasoline have
gone up by P6 to P8.50 a liter, an increase of about one-tenth.
Output reduction deal
The price increases come as crude
oil producers — members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(Opec) and non-Opec members — have extended an agreement to cut down output.
The International Energy Agency
(IEA) observed that crude producers had been “de-stocking” at 500,000 barrels
daily in 2017, which they want to maintain in 2018.
The Paris-based IEA also noted that
crude oil prices breached the $65-a-barrel level last December for the first
time since 2015.
More recently, crude oil prices are
ranging from $65 to $70 a barrel, up from about $55 at the end of 2016.
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