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Oil firms file petition to stop DOE from unbundling fuel prices


A group of oil companies on Friday filed a petition before a Makati court to stop the impending effectivity of a Department of Energy (DOE) circular requiring them to “unbundle” or reveal the details of petroleum products’ price adjustments.

The Philippine Institute of Petroleum Inc. (PIP) said it filed a “Petition for Declaratory Relief with Application for a Temporary Restraining Order and/or Preliminary Injunction” against DOE’s Department Circular No. DC2019-05-0008.

PIP counts as members Chevron Philippines Inc., Isla LPG Corp., Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., PTT Philippines Corp., and Total Philippines Corp.

The circular requires oil companies to notify the DOE not later than 3:00 p.m. of the day before implementing any price adjustment or non-adjustment, before announcing it to the public at large.

For liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), companies must notify the DOE not later than the end of the month for any price adjustment.

Fuel companies are also mandated to “unbundle” or provide the DOE with the detailed computation and corresponding explanation and supporting documents on the causes or reasons of the price adjustment.

“Petitioners contend that the DOE circular contravenes the dynamics of a deregulated oil market,” PIP said.

“The relief sought is necessary to protect the industry and the public and to foster market-driven competition,” it said.

In May last year, the Energy department said the unbundling of fuel prices would give consumers a “sense of transparency” as the country was reeling from soaring inflation due to rising fuel prices

Unbundling prices would give consumers a grasp of what they are paying for and “calm them down.”

“As the DOE Circular becomes effective on 29 June 2019, petitioners are likewise seeking injunctive relief to stop its implementation until the case is heard and decided on the merits,” PIP said.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said he respects the oil companies’ right to seek legal remedy. “That's their right and I respect that,” he told GMA News Online.

The Energy official has not yet seen PIP’s petition as of this posting. —VDS, GMA News