DOE bends to oil firms on ‘secret pricing’ of oil products
After a mix of uproar and animated expectation on the targeted Circular on fuel price unbundling, the Department of Energy (DOE) finally dropped the bomb that the itemized cost components of petroleum products will be “for their eyes” only.
In a briefing with reporters, DOE Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB) Director Rino Abad declared that the DOE is finally ready to issue a fuel unbundling policy, but the downside of that is: The information will only be shared between the DOE and the oil companies.
He forthrightly stated that the information or data will not be shared to the public, and if the media people will have queries, they will just be given “general industry trends” but there would be nothing specific on a particular entity.
In the original policy proposal, it was stipulated that the oil companies “shall strictly comply with the submission of the formal notice of price adjustments on a per-liter basis.”
The cost components required to be itemized are: Free on board (FOB) price of the product; freight; insurance; ocean loss; exchange rate; port charges; taxes and other charges or costs such as brokerage fee, bank charge, arrastre charge; wharfage charge; import processing fee and Customs documentary stamps – but all of that will now be hidden from public view.
The energy official said they are “bound by confidentiality agreement” so it will not be easy for them just disclosing information to the media and the general public, thus, his advice is just for the public to “trust our (DOE’s) judgment” on the oil pricing sphere.
“We can just give information on the whole amount of adjustments, there will be no explanations, so it’s like telling you: This is your allowance, but there will be no details,” the energy official stressed.
He added “we can just give you (referring to the media) general industry figure, that is if we really want to give information to the public – like the averages of increases throughout the year, and we can state: This was what happened.”
Abad lamented that this emerges as the scenario “because the law has also limited our powers, we would have to be consistent with what the law provides, we cannot also violate the law.”
Given this recent pronouncement, however, the energy department is ending up in the receiving end of criticisms for its lack of transparency and in concurring with the whims of the oil companies.
Bayan Muna Chairman Neri Colmenares has in fact pointed out that in the draft Circular of the DOE on fuel cost unbundling, the oil companies are being required “to hold press conferences to answer public queries” relating to the price adjustments; with him adding that “it is absurd to hide the oil companies’ unbundled data from the public.”
He noted that the issuance of data to the public is highly critical given the incessant increases in pump prices and the recent implementation of the second tranche of the excise taxes under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.