Gov't mulls lifting post-storm price controls
Agence France-Presse | 11/10/2009 5:03 PM
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MANILA - The Philippines said Tuesday it is considering lifting price controls on oil products after energy officials warned the typhoon-ravaged country could end up running out of petrol within weeks.
President Gloria Arroyo last month froze petrol prices on the main island of Luzon to their pre-September 26 levels to help the country recover from the deadly storms.
Some companies have since ease up on import volumes as crude prices rise. Several areas of the country have reported long pump station queues and key supplies such as diesel running out.
The cabinet on Tuesday discussed the oil firms' call to lift oil price freeze order, Arroyo aides said.
Economic Planning Secretary Augusto Santos said Arroyo ordered the civil defence office to determine whether the nation remained under a "state of calamity," the only condition under which Manila can impose controls on a deregulated industry.
The government said floods, landslides and disease after the recent storms killed at least 1,169 people, with some 97,000 still at evacuation centres.
The World Health Organization said 1.1 million people are still living in flooded areas.
Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes told the cabinet meeting that the Philippines' oil supply had dwindled to 8-13 days' worth, from three months originally, Santos added.
Trade Secretary Peter Favila said the government is separately consulting oil company executives to discuss other ways of helping the transport sector recover.
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