MANILA : Just a day after prices of gasoline and other petroleum products were raised on Tuesday, consumers were greeted with a big increase of more than P120 in the cost of an 11-kilogram tank of cooking gas.

Petron Corp. and Phoenix LPG Philippines Inc jacked up their prices by P11.20 per kg, or P123.20 per 11-kg cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the typical size being used for household cooking.

Solane raised its selling prices by P11.18 per kg, equivalent to about P123 per 11-kg cylinder.

The latest price monitoring of the Department of Energy (DOE) in Metro Manila showed that an 11-kg tank of LPG was selling at P824 to P995 in January, and the latest increase will raise this by 12 per cent to 15 per cent to more than P1,000 per 11-kg tank in some areas this month.

Both Petron and Phoenix LPG Philippines also increased their AutoLPG prices by P6.25 a litre while that of Cleanfuel was raised by P5.50.

The DOE’s Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB) director Rino Abad said that historically speaking, LPG prices reach their highest point twice a year as companies replenish their inventory.

They build their stockpile in November and then in February, and LPG prices decline around April or May, Abad said in a phone interview with the Inquirer.

“Hopefully, since prices peaked in February, it will stabilise in March and won’t [increase by] P10 per kg,” he added.

The cost of LPG in the Philippines is adjusted every month, unlike the pump prices of petroleum products which change weekly. In January, the price of LPG decreased by P3.09 to P4.20 per kg and AutoLPG by P2.35 to P2.50 a litre.

The Saudi LPG contract price serves as the basis for pricing cooking gas products in the Philippines and this international price benchmark is set by Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Saudi Aramco at the start of each month.

The LPG contract price for February rose to US$790 from $600.50 a month ago, according to the DOE.

“Like all other petroleum products, the Philippines has no influence over the LPG contract price as the country’s domestic requirement is small versus the world demand,” the DOE explained.

The higher international price was due to China’s reopening of its economy, boosting its demand not just for petroleum but also for LPG, according to LPG Marketers Association (LPGMA) president Arnel Ty.

He said the big increase in China’s demand was compounded by the fact that European Union countries were buying their traditionally higher winter season LPG requirements from the Middle East due to the economic embargo on Russian oil and gas.

  - ANN