Pump prices hiked anew
Oil companies raised pump prices anew, particularly for diesel and kerosene, marking the second price hike this month and the fourth consecutive price increase in as many weeks.
Oil firms raised diesel prices by P0.30 per liter price and kerosene prices by P0.55 per liter effective yesterday morning. There was no movement on the prices of gasoline.
The increase comes amid an impending increase in electricity rates, which consumers will start to feel in December and which would be implemented in three phases as approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the power regulator.
Oil firms issued their announcements Monday night.
“PTT Philippines will increase the price of diesel by P0.30 per liter effective Tuesday, Dec. 10, 6 a.m. No movement on the prices of gasoline,” said PTT Philippines, the local subsidiary of Thailand’s biggest oil firm.
Similarly, Petron Corp., the country’s biggest oil refiner, announced its own price hike.
“Petron will implement the following price increases (VAT inclusive) effective 6 a.m. Dec. 10 except in the provinces of Aklan, Bohol, Leyte and Samar: P0.55 per liter for kerosene and P0.30 per liter for diesel. This reflects movements in the international oil market,” Petron said.
Other oil players including Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. also issued similar announcements.
The increase is not likely to abate at least in the coming weeks because of rising prices of world crude, the Department of Energy said.
This, however, only means additional burden to consumers who will also face the impending hike in electricity rates.
The ERC on Monday approved a staggered billing scheme to implement the P3.44 per kilowatthour increase in the generation charge of Meralco.
The ERC said Meralco may collect the P3.44 per kwh generation charge in three installments: P2 per kwh in December, P1 per kwh in February and P0.44 per kwh in March.
A P2 per kwh increase in generation rates in December would translate to an increase of P400 in the billing charges of residential users with an average monthly power consumption of 200 kwh a month.