MANILA - Some gas stations in the provinces have begun to report low fuel inventories and untimely deliveries, raising fears that the government-imposed ceiling on prices have sparked a supply shortage.

A Shell station in General Santos City had sold out its supply of unleaded gasoline and was uncertain if a delivery would arrive soon.

"This is the first time this happened," said Miguelito Sabijon Jr., the station's supervisor.

It was the same story for other fuel stations in Pangasinan.

"Our supply is now limited. There has been no delivery for the past three days," said one pump attendant at a Caltex station in Binmaley town.

Another employee at a Shell station in Dagupan town said they might resort to rationing to be able to meet demand.

The country's inventory of petroleum products has dropped to 8 to 13 days' consumption from the normal 21 days since the government ordered oil firms to cap pump prices in Luzon in the aftermath of the back-to-back typhoons, according to Zenaida Monsada, head of the oil industry management bureau at the Department of Energy.

Monsada noted that some oil companies have halted imports, resulting in dwindling supply at many gas stations.

"Some of the oil companies are unable to import because they are having difficulty securing loans from banks to pay for the imports. [They] are selling at a loss because international prices continue to rise and here in the Philippines, prices were frozen," she said.

Last month, Petron Corp. said it was expecting to incur a net loss of P1.5 billion in the fourth quarter, partly due to the price freeze.

Petron and the Philippine unit of Royal Dutch Shell, which together have around 70% of the domestic market, are the only companies that operate refineries in the country. The rest import finished petroleum products.

Company officials said the two refiners may be unable to plug any potential shortage if other oil firms stop importing.

"If there's a sudden surge in demand, we cannot cope. We cannot be expected to cover the shortfall if the others stop importing," Ed Chua, country chairman of Shell.

Meanwhile, Malacañang maintained that fuel supply in the country remains adequate. It said it was still awaiting the National Disaster Coordinating Council's recommendation on whether the price freeze order should already be lifted.

But earlier Tuesday, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera hinted of a possible partial lifting. She said representatives from the government and oil companies came up with a consensus during a meeting on Monday on the need to pinpoint areas in Luzon that need "special treatment." With reports from Chat Ansagay and Gesell Capua, ABS-CBN News; and Reuters