Baguio’s ‘sky-high’ fuel prices slashed
Motorists in summer capital enjoy P3 rollback as DOE summons dealers
BAGUIO City—motorists were greeted by a P3 reduction in gasoline prices here on Thursday, a day before the deadline set by the Department of Energy for local dealers to explain the “sky-high” prices of fuel products in the summer capital. Mayor Benjamin Magalong said Petron gave its commitment to slash its pump prices. Fuel price here is P9 higher than those sold in neighboring areas.
BAGUIO CITY—GAS pumps in t he c it y saw s ignificant price reductions on Thursday, a day before the deadline set by the Departmen to f Energy (DOE) for 34 gasoline dealers to explain the “sky-high” prices of fuel product she re.
Caltex, Petro n an d Total slashe dt heir diesel prices by more t hanp3al iter, their local supplier she r esa id.
Several Caltex pump stations displayed lower fuel prices as early as 6 a.m. on Thursday.
From P47.12 t he p revious day, pri ce f or diesel went down to P43.84 a liter .I t also reduced gasoli nep rices for Silver from P58.59 to P56, for Platinum f rom P60.33 to P56.50 and kerosene price from P49.62 to P46.
Petro nan d Tot als ol ddi esel at P43.85 a liter starting on Thursd aym orning.
Show-cause orders
Prices for Petron’s Xtra were reduced from P58.60 to P56al iter ,f or BLZ from P60.10 to P56.26, for XCS from P50.34 to P56.50 and for kerosene from P45.57 to P42.29.
Total reduce dit sp rices for Premier diesel from P 58.20 to P56 an de XC 95 diesel from P 59.70 to P 56.50.
Shell stations here did not receive instructions about lowering prices and their dealers declined to comment on the call for price reduction.
Gas stations here received show-cause order sf rom the DOE to presen tt heir profit statement san d supply expenditures to explain why fuel was priced P 9 higher than those sol di nne ighbori nga reas.
They wer eg iven unti loc t. 25 to subm itt he irr especti vef inance statements as well as a matrix of their supply chain.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong said he invite dr epresentatives of oil industry player spe tron, Shell and Caltex to a meeting in Tagui gc ity last week to discuss the issue.
He said only Charmaine Canillas, Petron assistant vice president for corporate affairs, was presen td uring the meeting.
Big help
“Petro nw ill reduce fuel prices by as much as P3. Accordingly, the reductio nw ill have a substantial impac to n it sp rofit but it is worth helping Baguio ,” Mag along said in a statement, citing the commitment made by Canillas afte rt heir meeting.
He said Shell and Caltex officials had earlie rto ld him that they were also willing to conside rr educing their fuel prices.
In 2014, fuel prices in Baguio shot up by as much as P14. Last year, the top gasoline suppliers wer ef orce dto scale back prices when these shot up to P67al iter.
The DO Et hen demanded them to explain a 13.9-percent markup when the cost of transporting gasoline was 18 cen- tavos a liter consumed in a 68 kilometer trip from the oil depot in La Union province to Baguio.