MANILA, Philippines — Aside from having the most expensive power rate in ASEAN, the Philippines is also the region’s second most expensive in terms of petroleum prices, next only to highly industrialized Singapore.

Data culled from the Department of Energy showed the cost of gasoline in the Philippines as of the second week of January 2012 had climbed to P56.53 per liter on the average while diesel was at P46.69 per liter.

Singapore’s comparative equivalent prices had been at P72.39 per liter for gasoline and P55.66 per liter on average for diesel.

Other Asean neighbors have lower pump prices at P40.08 per liter equivalent for gasoline and P45.60 per liter for diesel in Indonesia; P48.17 per liter for gasoline and P41.49 per liter for diesel in Thailand; and P26.64 per liter for gasoline and P25.24 per liter for diesel in Malaysia.

It must be noted though that the governments of these three Asean neighbors have been injecting billions of subsidies to keep their prices lower at the pumps. And with them realizing the cash-draining effect of such addiction to oil subsidies, their governments, primarily Indonesia and Malaysia, are now facing tough times to phase out the State dole-outs given much anticipated socio-political backlash.

Scrutinizing the country’s pump prices has turned even more critical with the DoE’s announcement that it will start this month the review of the oil firms’ books and financial records.

Nevertheless, documents from the department would show that from the downstream petroleum industry’s deregulation in 1998, the profitability of oil companies had been on up and down swings. In more than a decade, two years – in 2000 and 2008 – were marked as the periods when most of them suffered losses.

Based on the profit/loss (P/L) reports submitted to the energy department, the net incomes logged by the major oil firms from 1998 to 2010 are as follows: Petron with P3.763 billion (1998); P2.362 billion (1999); P1.224 billion (2001); P2.921 billion (2002); P3.114 billion (2003); P4.101 billion (2004); P6.051 billion (2005); P6.018 billion (2006); P6.395 billion (2007); P4.259 billion (2009); and P7.924 billion (2010). The country’s dominant oil player booked losses of P2.549 billion in 2000 and P3.920 billion in 2008.

For Pilipinas Shell, the incomes registered are: P66 million (1998); P949 million (1999); P1.685 billion (2001); P1.628 billion (2002); P1.523 billion (2003); P1.790 billion (2004); P5.763 billion (2005); P4.123 billion (2006); P8.046 billion (2007); P6.773 billion (2009); and P6.024 billion (2010); while it posted losses of P2.156 billion in 2000 and P2.685 billion in 2008.

Chevron Philippines Inc. which carries the Caltex brand reported net income across years at: P1.284 billion (1998); P1.423 billion (1999); P1.028 billion (2001); P1.171 billion (2002); P2.745 billion (2006); P2.851 billion (2007); P1.540 billion (2009); and P1.425 billion (2010).

It suffered losses of P3.037 billion in 2000; P1.924 billion in 2003; P1.682 billion in 2004; P381 million in 2005; and P1.463 billion in 2008. After the closure of it refinery in 2005, Chevron already joined the league of finished product importers in the deregulated oil sector.

Among the so-called independents and product-importers, Seaoil Philippines appeared to be the most profitable compared to incomes registered by competitors. From 2008 to 2010, the company fared better in terms of profits having logged P417 million in 2010; P203 million in 2009 and 141 million in 2008.