This story was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 2, Feb. 11-17, 2007

 

 

Rollbacks Not Enough, Oil Products Still Overpriced

 

Despite the recent oil price rollbacks, IBON computations show that oil products in the country are still overpriced by P2.12 ($0.043) per liter. While the Filipino people suffers from increases in the prices of basic goods and services, oil companies earned P3.32 billion ($68,729,945) from January to November, 2006, of which more than P2.86 billion ($59,207,121) went to the so-called Big Three (Petron, Shell, and Chevron).

 

BY RHEA VEDA PADILLA
Ibon Foundation

Posted by Bulatlat

 

The series of oil price rollbacks implemented by oil companies this month are still not enough because of price manipulation and overpricing last year. Based on the monthly movement of the price of Dubai crude and the rate of foreign exchange (forex), IBON estimates show that oil products in the country are overpriced by P2.12  ($0.04 at an exchange rate of $1=P48.305) per liter from January to November 2006. Profiteering by oil companies amounted to P3.32 billion ($68,729,945) during the same period, of which more than P2.86 billion ($59,207,121) went to the so-called Big Three (Petron, Shell, and Chevron).

 

During the 11-month period, pump prices should have been rolled back by 15 centavos ($0.003) per liter but actual adjustments hiked the pump prices by an average of P1.97 ($0.04) per liter for a net overpricing of P2.12 per liter ($0.043).

 

Of the estimated P3.32 billion ($68,729,945) in profiteering due to overpriced oil products, P1.27 billion ($26,291,274) went to Petron; Shell, P1.07 billion ($22,150,916); Chevron, P0.52 billion ($10,764,931); and the new players, P0.46 billion ($9,522,823).

 

To compute the overpricing, IBON used the difference between the monthly averages of the price of Dubai crude and the forex rate to determine their impact on the pump price. In November, for instance, a dollar adjustment in the Dubai crude price translates to a 35-centavo ($0.007) per liter change in the pump price while a peso adjustment in the forex translates to a 40-centavo ($0.008) change.

 

To compute the profiteering, IBON used its overpricing estimates, the actual sales of petroleum products in 2004, and the average market share of each oil firm from 2000 to 2005. Ibon Foundation/posted by Bulatlat

 

 

Table. Summary of Oil Overpricing, 2006

Month

Dubai crude
($ per bbl)

Forex (P per dollar)

Adjustments (P per liter)

Overpricing (P per liter)

Profiteering
(P million)

Ideal

Actual

January

58.44

52.58

1.54

1.00

-0.54

-866.81

February

57.61

51.79

-0.63

-0.49

0.14

202.35

March

57.82

51.19

-0.18

0.15

0.33

520.09

April

64.14

51.38

2.36

2.00

-0.36

-559.13

May

65.00

52.16

0.68

1.50

0.82

1,312.64

June

65.22

53.18

0.56

1.24

0.68

1,047.33

July

69.17

52.30

0.98

0.93

-0.05

-82.86

August

68.77

51.33

-0.63

0.48

1.11

1,767.08

September

59.82

50.36

-3.55

-1.95

1.60

2,466.58

October

56.42

49.99

-1.34

-1.79

-0.45

-720.22

November

56.72

49.84

0.04

-1.10

-1.14

-1,763.28

December

-

-

-

-

-

-

      Total

-0.15

1.97

2.12

3,323.78

IBON estimates based on DOE data

 

 

© 2007 Bulatlat ■  Alipato Publications

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