Philippine consumers use app to counter record retail fuel prices | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
July 11, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2025
Philippine consumers use app to counter record retail fuel prices

Global Economy

Reuters
06 May, 2022, 04:20 pm
Last modified: 06 May, 2022, 04:27 pm

Related News

  • Philippine Navy seizes $175 million meth haul at sea
  • Philippine says armed forces to ensure 'unimpeded and peaceful' exploration in South China Sea
  • Philippines says military chief was aboard ship Chinese vessels rammed, hit with water cannon
  • 6.2 magnitude earthquake felt in Philippine capital
  • Three dead in blast during Mass in Philippine university gym: police

Philippine consumers use app to counter record retail fuel prices

Reuters
06 May, 2022, 04:20 pm
Last modified: 06 May, 2022, 04:27 pm
Philippine consumers use app to counter record retail fuel prices

Philippine motorcycle enthusiast John Aldwin Bagabagon rode easier than many other local motorcyclists and drivers this year as domestic fuel prices surged to record levels.

Bagabagon, 35, and his family are among 200,000 consumers turning to a homegrown app to secure credits for bulk fuel supplies at low prices, saving about 50% on their gasoline purchases over the past four months.

"I save a lot especially now that gasoline prices are rising weekly," Bagabagon said.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The app PriceLOCQ allows users to stock up on fuel at a set price by converting purchases to digital credits that are later redeemed at SEAOIL Philippines petrol stations.

Mark Yu, who launched the PriceLOCQ app in 2020 and whose family owns independent fuel company SEAOIL, says use of the app has "skyrocketed" since prices started rising this year, especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted global oil markets. 

Gasoline sales via the app in a single day in mid-March hit 2 million litres, matching volumes for the entire month of February as consumers scrambled to get ahead of price spikes.

Half of PriceLOCQ's clients are new customers of SEAOIL, which has around 6% of the retail fuel market, said Yu, who is also the chief financial officer of SEAOIL.

PriceLOCQ is the only app of its kind in the region, Yu said. Yu's personal venture, LOCQ, is behind it, and partners with hedging firms to offset the risks amid volatile prices.

The Philippines imports more than 90% of its annual fuel requirements. Pump prices in capital city Manila, an urban sprawl home to 13 million people, have risen by 30% for gasoline and 66% for diesel this year, government data shows. Gasoline hit a record of 81.85 pesos ($1.56) per litre in mid-March 2022.

Early adopters of PriceLOCQ were able in 2020 to purchase up to 600 litres (158.5 gallons) of gasoline and diesel products for future refuelling at around 20 pesos per litre. Prices now are around 79 pesos per litre.

While locking in prices in a rising market is enticing, consumers are advised not to hoard gasoline and buy according to their needs, said Bernard Flores, a Manila-based financial consultant for Pru Life UK.

Authorities have also warned customers to understand the underlying risks of using the app, including the non-transferability of the credits and the danger of buying bulk fuel and seeing prices fall.

"It's like the stock market where you find the desired price you prefer and you lock in on it. Whatever happens, whether the prices go up or down, you are locked in," Flores said.

Many motorists remained undeterred, though, especially those on the roads as part of their job.

"If this app didn't exist, we would have a difficult time because ... we use gasoline every day," delivery worker Johnrey Omolon said.

"It's a huge help. We get to prepare (for changes) every time gasoline prices increase."

Top News / World+Biz

Phillipines / High fuel prices

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Bangladesh's delegation, led by Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin, began high-level negotiations with USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer at 9pm Bangladesh time on Thursday (10 July). Photo: Collected from the Facebook handle of Golam Mortoza, Press Minister at the Bangladesh Embassy in the US
    No need to worry as US tariff talks ongoing: Fouzul tells biz leaders
  • Economist Abul Barkat; Photo: Courtesy
    Economist Abul Barkat arrested in graft case
  • Representational image. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
    Explainer: Why SSC pass rate hit a 17-year low

MOST VIEWED

  • Graphics: TBS
    BB raises startup fund limit, drops upper age barrier
  • Workers pack undergarments at the packing section of a garment factory in Ashulia, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Fatima Tuj Johora
    After US tariffs, jobs hang by a thread in Bangladesh's garments sector
  • Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    SSC, equivalent results: Pass rate drops to 68.45%, GPA-5 also declines
  • File photo of containers at Chattogram port/TBS
    US buyers push Bangladeshi exporters to share extra tariff costs
  • Govt vehicle purchase, foreign trip, new building construction banned: Finance ministry
    Govt vehicle purchase, foreign trip, new building construction banned: Finance ministry
  • Students sit for SSC exam at Motijheel Girls' High School on 10 April 2025. Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS
    SSC exam results out: Here's how you can check online and via SMS

Related News

  • Philippine Navy seizes $175 million meth haul at sea
  • Philippine says armed forces to ensure 'unimpeded and peaceful' exploration in South China Sea
  • Philippines says military chief was aboard ship Chinese vessels rammed, hit with water cannon
  • 6.2 magnitude earthquake felt in Philippine capital
  • Three dead in blast during Mass in Philippine university gym: police

Features

Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

7h | The Big Picture
Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

10h | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered — have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

10h | Panorama
Photo: Rajib Dhar/TBS

11 July 2024: Riot vehicles, water cannons hit the streets as police crack down on protesters

3h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

'Hypocrisy' will not continue, Iran tells IAEA

'Hypocrisy' will not continue, Iran tells IAEA

6h | TBS World
OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome

OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome

6h | TBS World
Will the title 'Honorable and Excellency' be abolished?

Will the title 'Honorable and Excellency' be abolished?

7h | TBS Today
July Declaration must be constitutionally recognized: Akhtar Hossain

July Declaration must be constitutionally recognized: Akhtar Hossain

6h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net