Tuesday, May 10, 2011

LPG prices down by 50 centavos per kilo

News Release
Office of Rep. Arnel U. Ty (LPG/MA)
Room 607 South Wing, House of Representatives, Constitution Hills, Quezon City, Tel No. 931-5144

May 10, 2011

Independent refillers and dealers grouped under the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers’ Association (LPG/MA) have declared a 50 centavo per kilogram rollback in prices of the cooking fuel.

"LPG/MA members are pleased to announce to consumers that effective tomorrow, May 11, LPG prices will be slashed by 50 centavos per kilo,” said Rep. Arnel Ty, who represents the party-list group in Congress.

Ty explained that immediately after the killing of al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden by US forces on May 2, the international contract price of LPG went down by more than $100 per metric ton on hopes of diminished terror threats.

“As of today, the international contract price of LPG is still down by around $90 per metric ton compared to (the price) before Bin Laden was eliminated. Independent refillers are now in a position to lower prices,” said Ty, a member of the House energy committee.

"LPG/MA members are reducing prices by only 50 centavos per kilo because to begin, they previously raised prices by only P2.00 per kilo, whereas the big oil companies increased their prices by P3.00 per kilo,” Ty pointed out.

On the day Bin Laden was killed, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. declared an increase of P3 per kilo in LPG prices, or P33 per 11-kg cylinder.

As of today, Shell has not announced any price rollback.

Meanwhile, Ty and 18 other House members have filed a bill seeking to establish a cylinder exchange program as one of the strategies to ensure safety in the consumption of LPG, amid the rise in accidental fires caused by defective tanks of the cooking gas.

House Bill 3976 mandates the Department of Energy to set up an LPG Cylinder Exchange, Swapping and Rehabilitation Program for the benefit of consumers who may be in possession of dilapidated and hazardous tanks.

“The cylinder exchange scheme is one of the features of our bill, which basically sets the minimum fair standards of business conduct for all LPG industry participants, from importers to down to neighborhood dealers,” Ty said.

Representatives Winston Castelo, Randolph Ting, Dakila Cua, Lord Allan Jay Velasco, Sherwin Tunga, Raymond Mendoza, Rodante Marcoleta, Pastor Alcover Jr., Sharon Garin, Ponciano Payuyo, Mark Sambar, Eulogio Magsaysay, Catalina Leonen-Pizzaro, Salvador Cabaluna III, Michael Angelo Rivera, Rodel Batocabe, Christopher Co, and Alfredo Garbin Jr. are co-authors of the bill.

“Worn out cylinders in circulation pose a grave risk to public safety. We want to remove these substandard cylinders from the market. We want LPG consumers and the industry to start with a clean slate,” said Ty, a member of the House energy committee.

Thailand’s national government successfully carried out a one-time cylinder exchange program in 2001 to weed out old and faulty tanks, according to Ty.

“Thailand spent only the equivalent of around P600 million to support the program. They were able to take away 1.2 million potentially unsound cylinders from their market,” Ty said.

“Here, we don’t have yet a reliable estimate as to the number of possibly flawed cylinders. One industry group claims the number could be up to six million, but we have no way of verifying the accuracy of their figures,” Ty said.

“What is clear is that following the exchange program, our bill will provide adequate strategies to ensure that every LPG cylinder that comes out of a filling or refilling plant has gone through rigorous safety or re-qualifying tests,” he pointed out.

“This way, cylinders that get damaged from normal wear and tear will be methodically and promptly detected, repaired and re-qualified, or scrapped, as the case may be,” Ty added.

Besides launching the cylinder exchange program, HB 3976 also protects LPG consumers as well as legitimate industry participants against fraudulent refillers and traders, underfillers, hoarders, and illegal importers of second-hand and possibly spoiled cylinders.

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