'Big 3,' oil firms roll back prices after protests

(Update) MANILA, Philippines - Amid the clamor by transport groups for the Big Three to substantially roll back prices, Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corp and Seaoil announced Friday that they will slash oil prices by as much as P5 per liter. Shell spokesperson Roberto Kanapi told GMANews.TV in a phone interview that it will slash gasoline prices by P5 per liter and diesel and kerosene prices by P2 per liter starting 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Meanwhile, radio dzBB said Petron spokesperson Virginia Ruvivar announced that the oil firm will likewise bring down gasoline prices by P5 per liter and diesel and kerosene prices by P2 per liter, also starting 12:01 a.m. Saturday. On the other hand, Chevron Philippines spokesperson Antonio Nebrida told GMANews.TV ni a phone interview to just wait for announcements from the oil company. Earlier, members of the groups Pasang Masda, Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston), and Malabon Transport Group held a protest caravan to urge the Big Three companies - Petron, Pilipinas Shell, and Chevron Philippines - to bring down oil prices. Chevron Chevron (formerly Caltex) announced that it would also be reducing prices for its gasoline, diesel and kerosene products. Toby Nebrida, Chevron corporate communications manager, said that the price reductions would start 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Chevron would be reducing the price for its gold, silver and regular gasoline by P5 per liter while the price for its silver E10 gasoline would be reduced by P4:50 per liter. Diesel and kerosene prices would be reduced by P2 per liter, Nebrida said. Seaoil For its part, independent oil firm Seaoil Philippines on Friday rolled back the prices of its petroleum products anew. Seaoil spokesman Rey Jimenez said the price reduction would cover a P4 per liter cut both on premium and unleaded gasoline and P1 per liter cut on kerosene. The oil firm - which had announced a rollback in prices earlier this week - did not slash its diesel price. Jimenez said the price adjustment would take effect at 10 p.m. Friday. He said that with their latest cut, Seaoil's gasoline products have become 50 centavos cheaper than those from its oil competitors. Seaoil last rolled back its diesel price by P2 per liter, and gasoline and kerosene prices by P1 on Tuesday. With its second cut for the week, Seaoil has already slashed the price of its gasoline by a total of P5 and its kerosene by P2 since Tuesday. Aside from Seaoil, other independent oil firms UniOil Petroleum Philippines, Jetti Oil, and Eastern Petroleum have also implemented their respective oil price cutbacks his week..- GMANews.TV