The ever-increasing prices of petroleum products of all kinds in 2009 prompted consumers to employ some crafty belt-tightening measures.

“Uling,” answered Gil Javier, referring to charcoal, when asked how he has been able to keep his “meryenda” business going despite the P7.50 price jump that cooking gas has made since November 1. “I use charcoal to steam my siomai.”

Javier, who started his backyard business only last September, said he would have already increased the price of his siomai had he not switched from liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to charcoal.

“When I started, (Petron) Gasulette sells for P140. Now it’s almost P200. If I only used LPG to cook then, I would have to raise prices. I had to improvise,” he said, noting that even a peso increase on his food items might shoo away his regular customers.

But now, even coal is becoming scarce in the store near Javier’s home in Sampaloc, Manila. In December, “bibingka” and “puto-bumbong” vendors who used the same fuel source had cropped up like ants on spilled syrup.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers Association (LPGMA) President Arnel Ty has told consumers to wait until February for cooking gas prices to drop. Their current price of P620 per 11-kilogram cylinder is expected to stay for the rest of January, Ty said.

A regular LPG cylinder was sold for only P440 during the same time last year.

Jeepneys & taxis
Unfortunately, passenger jeepneys cannot run on charcoal. Other vehicles, save for some specialized taxis, can’t run on LPG, either.

Local oil companies racked off three straight hikes on pump prices after Malacañang lifted the fuel price freeze over Luzon (Executive Order 839) last November 16, much to the chagrin of public utility transport groups.

The increases, which amounted to as much as P4.50 a liter, prompted Zeny Maranan of the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines to seek a provisional 50-centavo increase in jeep fare.

Back-to-back rollbacks on pump during the past two weeks may have silenced that clamor for now.

Even so, prices of diesel and gasoline, like those of LPG, have noticeably gone up since last year. Diesel currently retails for an average of P31.50 a liter and P39.50 a liter for unleaded gasoline.

Both diesel and unleaded gasoline prices stood between P30 and P31 a liter during the close of 2008.

Oil firms recover
If any good was gained by the oil industry during the past couple of months, then it would be its “recovery” from the days of EO 839 wherein it reportedly bled cash.

“Opportunities (to earn money) were lost during the EO,” Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association 0Chairman Fernando Martinez said.

Martinez, who is also Eastern Petroleum president, had claimed that oil firms lost at least P4 for every liter sold when the price cap was still in effect.

“The money that we should have earned…we ended up getting it by installment through the price hikes,” said the oil executive, referring to the trio of increases implemented between November 18 and December 2.

Martinez, however, conceded that pump prices would still be at the same level as they are today even if the Palace opted not to enforce any kind of price ceiling on fuel. “It just delayed the price adjustments that had to be made.”

The IPPCA chair also noted how the recent slip in world market prices has helped oil companies in their road to recovery. “The softening of world market prices is a welcome opportunity,” he said.

A good year
Despite having to go through the three-week price cap and mitigate the impact of typhoons, Martinez said it was still a good year for business.

“It was generally a good year. It was definitely better than the previous year,” said the oil official, referring to topsy-turvy 2008 when crude oil raced to a world all-time high of $147.27 per barrel mid-year only to plummet below $50 that December.

Now, crude price have somewhat stabilized at between $70 and $75. But whereas 2008 ended in a lasting downtrend in world market prices, its direction beyond 2009 is still up in the air.

“I cannot speculate on how fuel prices would behave in 2010. Even for January, I cannot say,” Martinez said. “It would depend on movements in the world market.”