The latest increase jacked up the average retail price of fuel in Metro Manila to as follows: gasoline (unleaded) P44.50; diesel, P45.50 and kerosene, P45.

But oil companies were quick to clarify that the 117-kilometer Batangas-Manila (Bat-Man) fuel pipeline that remains closed is not the cause of the hefty price hike on petroleum products.

Major oil player Pilipinas Shell at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday raised its prices for regular gasoline by P0.75 a liter; unleaded gasoline, P1.50 a liter; diesel and kerosene by P2 a liter.

Following suit with similar adjustments was another big player, Chevron Philippines (formerly Caltex), at 2 a.m. Independent oil firms Eastern Petroleum Philippines and Phoenix Petroleum imposed similar hikes at 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., respectively.

Eastern Petroleum President Fernando Martinez cited the “substantial increase” of petroleum prices in Asia as reason for the significant hike, as well as the effects of the strengthening US dollar in foreign exchange.

The price increases took effect as the 40-year-old Bat-Man fuel pipeline remains closed because of an erstwhile discovered – and subsequently fixed – leak in its system. It was shut down last October 28.

Prior to its shutdown, the First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC)-owned pipeline was the most efficient way to transport petroleum products from the Batangas port to the Pandacan oil depot in Manila. Its closure meant that oil firms had to use other, costlier means to bring fuel to Metro Manila.

Among the companies that implemented “contingency measures” amid the extended pipeline closure were Shell and Chevron.

Such measures include the use of trucks and barges, oil executives bared.

However, both players have pointed to rising international prices as the culprit for Tuesday’s increases — imported crude in Asia reached five-month highs of $88 per barrel over the weekend. They also noted that the US economy is on the road to recovery, giving the peso a difficult time catching up.

Shell Spokesperson Bobby Kanapi earlier vowed that they won’t recover the losses they incurred as a result of the pipeline shutdown at the expense of the public.

Eastern Petroleum does not use the FPIC pipeline in traversing petroleum and is therefore unaffected by it woes, Martinez said.

Tuesday’s fuel hike was the second in as many weeks – last November 8, oil firms jacked up prices of regular gasoline by P0.50 a liter and unleaded gasoline, diesel and kerosene by another P0.25 a liter.

The transport sector has made overtures for a fare hike with the latest upward adjustment in the prices of oil and other petroleum products.

Ellson Quismorio, Manila Bulletin