FUEL CRISIS: DOE orders oil firms to follow price rollbacks

National

THE Department of Energy (DOE) has directed oil companies to comply with mandated fuel price rollbacks and warned against imposing excessive increases, as significant pump price cuts take effect following easing tensions in the Middle East.

“The people’s clamor was, ‘why are the increases faster than the rollbacks?’ So we have decided to closely monitor the adjustments,” DOE Sec. Sharon Garin said during a press briefing per a report by Philstar.

Grain explained that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s declaration of a national energy emergency has empowered the DOE to set a cap on price increases and limit rollbacks, stressing that the move is “not an arbitrary price control,” but a regulatory measure on price movements.

Starting Tuesday, April 21, diesel, gasoline and kerosene prices are set to drop by at least P24.94, P3.41 and P2 per liter, respectively. This marks the second straight week of rollbacks following a series of steep increases that pushed domestic pump prices to historic highs.

“The DOE, with the issuance of Executive Order 110 by the President, has more control over the industry. But we are not taking over any industry, any business or any operations. What we are more focused on is the price,” Garin said.

Under the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998, the DOE may “temporarily take over or direct the operation” of oil industry players in times of national emergency.

DOE director Rino Abad warned that firms failing to comply with the mandate may face penalties of three months to one year imprisonment and fines ranging from P50,000 to P300,000.

The DOE also confirmed the arrival of additional fuel supplies. The remaining batches of diesel buffer stock procured by the Philippine National Oil Company are scheduled to arrive today and on Friday.

Around 320,000 barrels will be delivered to the Subic terminal of the Philippine Coastal Storage and Pipeline Corp., according to Energy Undersecretary Alessandro Sales.

A fourth and final batch of 300,000 barrels will arrive on April 24 at the depot of Insular Oil Corp. in Davao City, sourced from international trader Vitol.

In addition, 21,000 metric tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) buffer stock are expected between the third and last week of May, with shipments coming from the United States via Singapore.(Samantha Faye Alcoma, CTU-TC BAEL-ELSD Intern)