Oil majors feel betrayed by small players

THE Big 3 oil companies are sore over the "betrayal" by small oil players which lowered their prices way ahead of the oil giants’ last week, an executive from an oil company said yesterday.

Normally a consensus among all the oil players – big and small – is reached before any one of them decides to reduce or increase prices, said the executive who requested not to be named.

Small players reduced their prices by P1 a liter Tuesday last week. The Big 3 – Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corp. and Chevron Philippines – effected a P1 reduction last Saturday.

The executive said cash flow problems forced the small players to lower their prices probably to improve sales.

The official said the Big 3 were not affected by the move as the small players control only 1.5 percent of the market.

The small firms, he said, grossed around P33 million in the three days they were selling their products at P1 cheaper than those of the giant firms.

The amount, he said, hardly made a dent on the big players’ margins. "We’re not hurting."

The executive are also said they are unfazed by calls for a boycott of the Big 3.

The boycott calls were being aired by transport groups. On Friday, Senate majority leader Francis Pangilinan expressed support for the call to pressure big firms to be sensitive to the public’s plight. He said the small players are quicker to respond to the public’s call and to the lowering prices of crude in the world market. – Dennis Gadi