The Philippine Board of Investments (BOI) recently approved the registration of Seaoil Philippines’ Four (4) Storage-Tank Oil Depot in Davao del Sur with a combined capacity of 36.9 M liters and is said to contain both gasoline and diesel fuels.
The P287 M project qualified for Bulk Marketing of Petroleum Products under the Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) – Special Laws list pertaining to R.A. 8479 or the Downstream Oil Deregulation Act of 1994.
(RA 8479 liberalizes and deregulates the downstream oil industry in order to ensure a truly competitive market under a regime of fair prices, adequate and continuous supply of environmentally-clean and high-quality petroleum products by encouraging the participation of new oil industry players through the provision of incentives.)
Seaoil Philippines, a company owned by businessman Francis Yu with Caltex Australia as minority partner, is considered the largest independent fuel company in the country and the firm has said it is committed to provide quality, environment-friendly and affordable products to the Filipinos.
The approved activity which already started operations in September 2018 provides an additional 36.9 M liters of gasoline and diesel to its existing 41.050 M liters of storage in the southern part of Mindanao which translates to a total of 78.150 M liters of fuel capacity. “This combined capacity is actually more than enough to accommodate the average daily requirement of 73 M liters of fuel nationwide. The additional storage capacity of fuel means additional supply of fuel may allow the company to efficiently manage its inventory levels and avoid external shocks that could lead to oil price hikes or at the very least mitigate its price increase in several parts of Mindanao,” Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said.
Seaoil Philippines already offers one of the lowest per liter prices of fuel in the southern part of the Philippines. The company reported that with the additional depot capacity, its diesel prices could possibly experience a price drop of around 10%, or around P 5 cheaper than the prevailing prices. This is on top of the weekly rollbacks due to the continuing decline in global oil prices.
In a related development to address the strong fuel demand among consumers in the coming years, Petron Corporation has announced it is on track to expand the capacity of its oil refinery complex in Bataan from the present 180,000 barrels to around 270,000-300,000 barrels a day by the year 2022. This comes on the heels of Petron Corp.’s P82 B investment in the Condensate Processing Complex Project in the same area which also got the BOI nod.
Meanwhile, the BOI also approved the application of Balayan Bay Batangas Development Inc. (BBBDI) as a new manufacturer of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LABS), coconut fatty alcohol sulfate (CFAS) and sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) with a total sulfonation capacity of 40,000 metric tons (MT) per year.
The P820 M oleochemicals project is located at the Phoenix Petrochemicals and Industrial Park (PPIP) in Calaca, Batangas and commercial operations started on October 2018 with 102 personnel.
BBBDI is utilizing the latest in sulfonation technology from Nanjing Qino Auto-Control Equipment CO. Ltd. Of China with added improvements of rotameters (flow measuring device) attached to reactors tube ensuring optimal ratio of raw materials (linear alkyl benzene, coconut fatty alcohol and fatty alcohol ethoxylate) needed to ensure product quality in manufacturing the oleochemicals. LABS, CFAS and SLES are considered essential in the production of laundry detergent and personal care items such as toothpaste, soap bars, shower cream and shampoo.
“Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) local manufacturers of home/personal care and cleaning products together with the upstream oleochemicals industry stands to greatly benefit from this project since the products to be produced by BBBDI will serve as a cost-efficient substitution to previously imported oleochemicals. Local produce means shorter order-to-delivery lead time, better quality, better pricing and more flexibility,” Rodolfo said.
He added that that the local oleochemicals industry is now able to produce more derivatives and downstream products and it is a giant step in building a more integrated oleochemicals industry ahead.♦
Date of Release: 11 December 2018