Stellar report card: Fuel price hikes likened to school grades

June 8, 2022 - 4:50 PM
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Caltex and Shell gas prices following the price hike on June 7, 2022 from Brigada News Palawan (Facebook/103.1 Brigada News FM - Palawan)

Real-life gas prices were compared to school grades following another price hike by big-time oil companies.

Photos of gas prices seen in refilling stations of Shell and Caltex made rounds on social media after the price hike took effect on Tuesday, June 7.

Twitter user (@rodelriddle) was among those who shared a photo of hefty gas prices from P92.50 to P99.45 per liter.

The photo also showed that it was taken from a Shell refilling station.

The user likened these figures to grade requirements in college.

“Road to Latin Honors,” his tweet reads.

Entertainment page FTTM later picked up this tweet and shared it on Facebook.

Its post reads: “Congratulations (clap emojis). Magna cum laude.”

A content creator named Manila KC also shared photos of price signage of Shell and Caltex gas stations.

Both photos showed similar pricing of their petroleum products.

“Luh! May gustong maging valedictorian,” her post said.

These photos also soon reached the online forum r/Philippines.

One Redditor likened the prices to a student’s academic performance in elementary school.

“We’re in the 90s folks; it’s not our elementary grades to be happy about,” the user said.

These fuel prices of Shell and Caltex were reported by Brigada News – Palawan, a provincial radio station on Facebook on June 7.

The report uploaded photos of signage of gas stations from popular oil brands located in Puerto Princesa City in Palawan.

They showed that the rates of Shell, Caltex, Star Oil, Royal Express Fuel and Total in the province have increased drastically to over P90 per liter for their petroleum products.

The cheapest so far is the diesel offering from Star Oil which costs P85 per liter.

Last March, some people in the United States compared their fuel prices at that time to the ones featured in the post-apocalyptic movie “I Am Legend.”

They noticed that real-life gas prices were more expensive than the ones shown in the fictional film.

READ: Real-life fuel prices hit fictional post-apocalypse rates 

Fuel price hikes as of June 7  

The Department of Energy, along with separate advisories from large oil companies, previously announced the following price hikes as of June 7:

  • Gasoline – P2.70 per liter
  • Diesel – P6.55 per liter

Shell, Caltex and SeaOil have also jacked up their rates for kerosene at P5.45 per liter.

In a statement, the DOE cited the still-ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine as the reason for the continuous price adjustments.

“After staying choppy and rangebound last week, crude prices rose this week as European Union (EU) has agreed on a ban of Russian seaborne imports in the next 6 months while exempting pipeline imports, making the supply outlook further tighter than present,” DOE said.

“The ban will immediately impact 75% of Russian imports in the EU while affecting 90% imports by the end of the year,” the agency added.

Below is a screenshot of DOE’s latest matrix of retail pump prices across oil brands for Puerto Princesa City.

Screenshots of DOE’s matrix of retail pump prices captured on 8 June 2022 via DOE’s website

The rest of the prices for Southern Luzon can be found here: petro_sluz_2022-may-31_mimaropa.pdf (doe.gov.ph).

The matrix for retail pump prices in the National Capital Region, meanwhile, can be viewed here: petro_ncr_2022-jun-02.pdf (doe.gov.ph).