BY JOHN LOURENZE POQUIZ

MAJOR oil firms Pilipinas Shell and Petron Corp cut liquefied petroleum gas prices effective midnight last night due to the sharp decline of LPG contract price in the world market.

Both firms implemented a P4 per kilogram or P44 per 11 kilogram LPG tank.

Petron also announced a price cut on autogas LPG by P2.50 per liter.

Since August when world oil prices started to go down, Shell and Petron have reduced their prices by P8 per kilogram for LPG.

The major firms’ move followed P3 per kilogram cuts implemented by independent retailers Sunday.

The retailers the cut price on auto LPG by P1.50 per liter for autogas on the same day.

Over the weekend, the Department of Energy said it expected the oil companies to cut prices on LPG by P15 by the end of December.

The LPG price cuts followed the substantial pump price cut major and independent oil companies implemented before weekend last week.

Petron, Pilipinas Shell, and Chevron cut the prices of gasoline and diesel by P2 per liter and P5 per liter, respectively, the most substantial price cut on petroleum products by oil majors to date, since the oil price spike in June.

Independent oil player Eastern Petroleum also announced a P5 per liter rollback for diesel and P2 per liter for gasoline. Unioil also cut back the cost of diesel by P6 per liter and gasoline by P2.50 per liter.

Petron corporate communications officer Raffy Ledesma said the price cut is a reflection of the continuous softening of the oil price in the world market.

Data from the DOE show that as of June 2008, independent players hold 58.3 percent of the LPG market share. Petron and Shell has 37.8 percent and 20.5 percent market shares, respectively.

In the National Capital Region, which accounts for 20 percent of the country’s LPG market, the independent players hold 35.9 percent of the market share.

Among the independents, Liquigaz holds the biggest market share for LPG with 22.7 percent in NCR and 24.6 percent in the whole country.

The reduction in world crude prices is among topics to be taken up in the Cabinet meeting today.