UniOil hints of P1-P2/liter oil price rollback next week

MANILA, Philippines - Just two days after slashing the prices of its pump products, UniOil Petroleum Philippines Inc (UPPI) said on Friday that motorists could expect another oil price rollback next week. In a statement, UPPI General Manager Luisito “Chito" Medina-Cue Jr said the oil firm will lower the price of its diesel and gasoline by either P1 or P2 due to a continued reduction in the oil prices in the world market. Medina-Cue added that there is even a “big possibility" that price cuts would continue even after next week as long as the world oil prices continue its downward spiral. "We are planning another rollback next week depending on the market forces. There will be a possible 1 to 2 pesos per liter reduction," Medina-Cue said. The oil firm said that as of September 4, the average price of Dubai crude plummeted to $105.30. It is more than a seven percent drop from last August’s average of $135.27. The UPPI official said that next week’s possible rollback would be the seventh for the oil firm since August. The series of rollbacks have already led to a total price cut of P6 for gasoline and P4.50 for diesel. Currently, the price of unleaded gasoline from UniOil ranges from P53 to P55 a liter. On the other hand, kerosene is being sold at P56 to P59.80 per liter and diesel at P52 to P54.09 a liter. Double Sales Medina-Cue also claimed that motorists gassing up at their stations have more than doubled since they started the series of rollbacks earlier. "We are currently experiencing extra-ordinary high sales in majority of our retail stations after we had a rollback last Tuesday. Sales doubled in the last 36 hours since we instituted the price reduction," he said. Unioil has more than 40 outlets in Luzon alone and has also has stations in the Visayas and Mindanao. The oil firm is also eyeing a P90 million expansion for six new stations located in Quezon City, Caloocan, Las Piñas and Makati. On Thursday, the three biggest oil firms in the Philippines decided to finally cut on its oil prices after their small counterparts successively announced respective rollbacks. Aside from UniOil, Flying V, Eastern Petroleum, and SeaOil all reduced by P1 the prices of their petroleum products last Wednesday. The oil price cut of Shell, Petron and Chevron will take effect 12:01 a.m. Saturday. - GMANews.TV