Consumer and Oil Price Watch (COPW) chairman Raul Concepcion said oil refiners should not penalize consumers for buying their crude at a much higher price.

Concepcion made the statement in a testimony before the court recently in response to the subpoena issued by Judge Silvino Pampilo of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 26 ordering him to testify on the allegations that oil firms Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corp. and Caltex Philippines are overpricing their products.

Lawyers of Shell, Petron and Caltex motioned the court should not proceed with the case as they filed a case with the Supreme Court questioning the lower court’s jurisdiction. They added that their participation is merely to "observe" the proceedings. Judge Pampilo ruled that since the Supreme Court has yet to issue a TRO, Concepcion’s testimony can be heard.

Concepcion expressed shock when the lawyers of Shell, Petron and Caltex walked out prior to his testimony.

In his testimony, he said during the meeting held by Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes on July 2, 2008 with the oil industry stakeholders at a time when the price of Dubai crude peaked at $147 per barrel, the oil companies presented a cost build-up for diesel showing they incurred underrecoveries of P9.11 per liter in May and P7.01 per liter in June or a total of P16.

At the same time, the oil companies showed losses amounting to P6 billion.

He said refiners Shell and Petron were hit by a double-whammy when they did not buy forward and government persuaded them to limit their increases to 50 centavos per week to soften the impact on consumers and the riding public.

In a full-page ad published last Feb. 17 and 18 in major daily newspapers, COPW urged Reyes and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez to perform their regulatory functions as tasked by the Oil Deregulation Law to protect the consumers and ensure transparency.