Philippine motorcycle enthusiast John Aldwin Bagabagon rides easier than many other local motorcyclists and riders this year as domestic petrol prices rise to record levels. Bagabagon, 35, and his family are among the 200,000 consumers who turn to the home app to get high-fuel credits at low prices, saving about 50% on their fuel purchases over the past four months.
“I save a lot, especially as petrol prices go up every week,” Bagabagon said. The PriceLOCQ app allows users to collect fuel at a fixed price by converting purchases to digital credits and later used at SEAOIL Philippines petrol stations. Mark Yu, who founded PriceLOCQ in 2020 and whose family owns the oil company SEAOIL, says the use of the app has “increased dramatically” since prices began rising this year, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupted markets of oil fields.
The sale of petrol for one day in mid-March reached 2 million liters, the same monthly prices for February as consumers struggled to outperform prices. Percentage of the fuel market, says Yu, who is also SEAOIL’s chief financial officer.
Rise in price of Petrol & diesel
PriceLOCQ is the only service of its kind in the region, Yu said. Yu’s business, LOCQ, is the cause, and partnered with defense firms to eliminate risk during volatile prices. The Philippines imports more than 90% of its annual fuel needs. Prices for pumps in the capital Manila, home to 13 million people, have risen by 30% for petrol and 66% for diesel this year, government officials said. Petrol reached a record 81.85 pesos ($ 1.56) a liter by mid-March 2022.
PriceLOCQ users early in the year were able by 2020 to buy 600 liters (158.5 liters) of petrol and diesel products to refuel in the future for about 20 liters of pesos. Prices are now estimated at 79 pesos a liter. Although locking prices in rising markets is attractive, consumers are advised not to buy fuel and buy it according to their needs, says Bernard Flores, a Manila-based financial adviser at Pru Life UK.
Authorities also warn consumers to be aware of the dangers of using the app, including debt transfer and the risk of buying too much fuel and seeing prices fall. It’s like a stock market where you find the price you like and lock it in. No matter what happens, whether prices go up or down, you are trapped inside,” Flores said. Many motorists have not given up, especially those on the road as part of their job.
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