Big and small oil companies enforced substantial rollbacks on their pump prices at different times Tuesday after skipping customary price adjustments last week.

Oil giant Pilipinas Shell led petroleum companies in the round of rollbacks, slashing premium and unleaded gasoline prices by P1.25 a liter and regular diesel, kerosene, and regular gasoline prices by another P1 a liter. Robert Kanapi, Shell spokesperson, said the price cut took effect at 12:01 a.m. Monday.

Petron Corp., which imposed a similar rollback at 6 a.m., announced a price adjustment as early as Sunday night. At around the same time, Chevron Philippines (formerly Caltex) imposed a price adjustment of the same direction and increments.

Shell, Petron, and Chevron comprise the so-called “Big Three” oil companies which control at least 70 percent of the local oil industry.

Meanwhile, smaller oil players have also implemented cutbacks of their own – Total Philippines, considered the country’s fourth largest refiner, shed P1.25 off its retail price of unleaded gasoline and P1 off diesel at 6 a.m.

Similar rollbacks by independent players Phoenix Petroleum and PTT Philippines took effect Monday noon, it was gathered.

Another small oil firm, Unioil Philippines, was the sole oil firm to implement a price cut last week. The company reduced last Wednesday its gasoline prices by P0.75 a liter and diesel by P0.25 a liter.

It remains to be seen if Unioil would tweak its prices anew for this week.

Last May 5, local oil companies hiked their prices of diesel, gasoline and kerosene by P0.50.

The same oil firms have pointed the downtrend in world market price as reason for this week’s rollback. Crude price in Asia dropped below $74 a barrel during trading last Friday.

With Monday’s price reductions, the average pump prices in Metro Manila are now as follows: diesel, P35.50 a liter; gasoline (unleaded) P43 a liter and kerosene, P44 a liter.

But as far as the transport group Pinag-Isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytors Nationwide (PISTON) is concerned, oil firms still “owe” consumers a few more pesos worth of rollbacks.

PISTON Secretary General George San Mateo said that the group would continue to conduct protest actions until the alleged oil cartel which has been dictating domestic fuel prices is eradicated.

Oil firms should imposed price cuts worth R8 a liter, PISTON reckoned last month, citing independent computations on international price movements and how they convert in the domestic market.