MANILA – House Deputy Minority Leader Rep. Arnel Ty has called for a government investigation into the unwarranted increase in the prices of petroleum products and the overpricing of cooking gas by a number of bulk suppliers.
Ty, who is also a member of the LPG Marketers’ Association, said they have filed with the Department of Energy-Department of Justice task force a report concerning the unreasonable escalation in the price of LPG being sold by some bulk suppliers.
He said several bulk suppliers recently jacked up their cooking gas prices by 50 centavos per kilo (or P5.50 per 11-kilogram cylinder) for retail consumers, and by P1 to P1.50 per kilo for bulk customers.
“The increases are uncalled-for, considering that the international contract price of LPG has been fairly stable,” Ty said. “The contract price of liquefied petroleum gas abroad was $471 per ton in February and $472 per ton this March. This ought to translate to an insignificant increment of not more than four centavos per kilo locally.”
However, Ty said some bulk suppliers have disproportionately pushed up their prices by 50 centavos for retail buyers, and up to P1.50 per kilo for wholesale purchasers. He branded this as excessive and abusive.
Ty said the unjustifiable increases implied that bulk suppliers are needlessly punishing consumers with an extra 46 centavos to P1.46 per kilo. The price of the global benchmark Brent crude oil has plunged below $55 per barrel as of March 13y, from a high of $115 in June last year.
Like gasoline, diesel and kerosene, LPG is derived from refining crude oil. The Philippines, Ty said, imports between 70 to 80 percent of its LPG supplies, owing to the limited capacity of the two domestic refineries run by Petron Corp. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (Mindanao Examiner)
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