The Department of Energy (DoE) announced that there will be no price hikes for cooking gas and lubricants by oil companies to cushion the impact of recent floods on households and vehicle owners in Luzon.

“We should not see any increase in price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and so this should be welcome news to the public who are still suffering from the consequences of Ondoy,” said Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes.

International contract price for LPG actually rose by $3.00 per ton from an average of $586.00 per metric ton in September. This would have translated to a price hike of P0.20 per kilogram in local cooking gas prices.

However, Reyes said “the increase price of the imported LPG of course is very, very minimal and therefore I see no reason why there should be any increase in the price of local LPG.”

He clarified though that his pronouncements are by no means a “price control” as the retail petroleum industry is deregulated.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation country manager Ed Chua confirmed that they will not be raising prices of lubricants and LPG, even if there is a slight increase in cost, to help in the rehabilitation of typhoon damaged areas.

Other oil firms have yet to say if they will also be holding back prices as is as of press time but most are expected to follow Shell’s lead given the DoE's pronouncements and Shell being a major player in the LPG market.

Meanwhile, Reyes recently said that the DoE is coordinating with the power sector to make sure that the super typhoon “Pepeng” which is on its way would not affect the supply of electricity.

“We expect the Typhoon “Pepeng” to hit land by Saturday and then it will hit northern Luzon with strong winds. We will be preparing for this and our energy facilities will be alerted and will be on the job to take the necessary actions should any of these energy or power installations be affected by typhoon,” he said.