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by Myrna M. Velasco, Manila Bulletin
Household budget for cooking fuel will be stretched anew this April as the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) products have been increased by P3.25 per kilogram to P3.27 per kg or aggregate P35.75 to P35.97 for the standard 11-kilogram cylinder.
The LPG price hike took effect Friday, April 1 until end this month, based on the pricing parameter being enforced in the industry.
As of this writing, LPG firms that already adjusted their prices had been Petron Corporation for its Gasul and Fiesta LPG; Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. for its Super LPG; and Solane LPG.
Of the three players, Solane implemented the biggest hike of P3.27 per kilogram, while Petron and Phoenix LPG products raised their prices by P3.25 per kg.
Additionally, Petron announced P1.81 per liter hike on its autoLPG while Phoenix Petroleum imposed a slightly leaner increase of P1.80 per liter for that alternative fuel for the transport sector.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has attributed the uptick in international contract prices that had been primarily benchmarked with Saudi Aramco, the pricing reference for Asian markets.
Prior to this round of cost adjustment, the pick-up price of LPG products in Metro Manila retail outlets had been at P880.45 to P1,140 per tank, according to the monitoring report of the energy department.
In April 2021, LPG prices ranged from P605 to P784 per cylinder as against this month’s prices of P995 to P1,175 or roughly P300 to P400 higher in just a span of one year.
Costlier LPG will further erode the purchasing power of Filipino consumers, who in several months had also been saddled with series of astronomical upswings at the pumps.
For next week, however, the general expectation will be rollback for gasoline and diesel prices.
