7 Oil Companies Rollback Gas Prices by 95 Centavos Per Liter, Diesel by 80 Centavos Per Liter Jan. 5

Manila (PNA) — Petron Corporation, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, PTT Philippines Corporation Plc., Seaoil Philippines Inc., Eastern Petroleum, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation (PSPC) and Chevron Philippines Inc. will reduce gasoline prices by 95 centavos per liter and diesel prices by 80 centavos per liter on Jan. 5.

Except Phoenix Petroleum, which will rollback their rates by 6 a.m. on Jan 5, all other companies said price movements will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on January 5.

Meanwhile, Petron, Seaoil, PSPC and Chevron said its kerosene prices will fall by Php 1.25 per liter.

Most of the companies said the price reduction has reflected movements in the international oil market.

Department of Energy Undersecretary Zenaida Monsada told PNA that it is hard to predict whether international oil prices will drop further, but pointed out the international oil industry analysts note the market is well supplied.

The decreasing trend was triggered when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided not to cut production in Nov that resulted in the oversupply of oil.

Relatively, Monsada said that no oil rigs or exploration projects in the country have stopped, due to the plunge of international oil prices.

The Asian benchmark, Oman Crude, was reported to have been trading USD 4.23 per barrel at the Dubai Mercantile Exchange lower than Brent, which was noted as the biggest discount since June 19, 2014. This was caused by the low demand from China, Japan, India and Indonesia.

Eastern Petroleum Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Fernando Martinez noted this bring petroleum products at an all-time low since 2008.

Further, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects noted that the demand in the Asia Pacific region will remain consistent at 31.2 million barrels a day in 2015. (PNA) CTB/JLD/SSC