Published
August 17, 2019, 12:26 PM By Myrna Velasco
As
the United States-China trade war escalates, and global economies wobble, oil
import-dependent countries like the Philippines would have to agonize more over
the volatile pricing of petroleum commodities as diesel prices will go up anew
next week at domestic pumps by P0.75 per liter, while gasoline and kerosene
prices will increase by P0.50 per liter.
Oil
firms like Chevron Philippines and PetroGazz went on too early in announcing
the price hikes – although the two firms’ actual adjustments are yet to be
imposed on Tuesday, or on August 20 at 12:01 a.m. and 6 a.m., respectively.
The
other oil companies are expected to follow their competitors’ lead, which has
always been their practice.
There
was a new round of rally in global oil prices last week as “fears of recession”
were dampened, according to industry experts. That was the prognosis despite
overall assumptions and data showing a slowdown in global economic growths.
In
the Philippines, as the government loses in its legal bid to enforce more
transparent pricing for oil products, industry players also appeared to be
fiddling around more with their pricing announcements depending on their
competitive whims.
But
Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi is not one to easily give up.
Despite
having been legally bruised by the issuance of preliminary injunction against
the government-underpinned fuel cost unbundling policy, he told reporters that
he will resurrect the government’s oil importation plan so the consumers could
be given an option in the liberalized oil sector.
Cusi
admitted he was “not happy” with the outcome of the legal setbacks encountered
by the Department of Education (DOE)-sanctioned Circular on fuel costs
unbundling, but he said the department will continue to judiciously handle the
legal aspect of that policy in coordination with the Office of the Solicitor
General (OSG).
“We
have to consult (with OSG) to ensure that we will not be cited in contempt.
That (Court decision) is not a problem with us, that’s the right of the
companies – they’re exercising it. We respect the Courts, but that doesn’t mean
that we will stop from finding ways how we can keep the people informed,” he
stressed.
The
targeted importation of finished petroleum products, according to the energy
chief, could either be executed by and through the state-run Philippine
National Oil Company (PNOC), or its subsidiary PNOC-Exploration Corporation.
“We
did all the process, we did the public consultation. Now despite all of those,
there was an injunction, so we’ll just have to find legal ways on how to inform
the public,” Cusi stressed.
With
a state-owned company importing petroleum products, he noted that the
government will have a way to gauge the various cost components or how fuel
commodities are being priced at the pumps.
“We’ll
find other ways to determine the cost. We would like PNOC to import — either it
is PNOC mother or PNOC-EC. That’s a work in progress,” the energy chief
emphasized.
Last
year, the Department of Energy (DOE) backed the P2-billion diesel importation
plan of PNOC-EC, but that move had been initially knocked out by controversies
– especially when it was revealed that the quality of products to be sourced
from offshore would still be within the Euro-II specification.
After
the snagged importation venture of PNOC-EC last year, Cusi said he did not want
to give a specific timeframe yet on when the revived offshore sourcing plan of
fuel products will be concretized.
PNOC,
he indicated, could be in a strategic position to do the importation given the
partnership that it has been exploring with Dubai-based firm Lloyds Energy that
includes investments in oil depots.
It
has to be recalled that distribution networks and retailing system had been
questioned on the previously planned diesel importation – and that’s one of the
technical facets that the energy department had instructed PNOC-EC then to
critically evaluate.
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