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Seaoil depot seen to reduce pump prices in Mindanao

By Kris Crismundo

December 11, 2018, 2:49 pm

MANILA -- Independent oil player Seaoil Philippines has received its certificate of registration from the Board of Investments (BOI) for its PHP287-million four storage-tank oil depot in Davao del Sur, which is seen to cut pump prices in Mindanao.

The BOI registered Seaoil depot project -- "Bulk Marketing of Petroleum Products" -- is under the Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) Special Laws list pertaining to Republic Act 8479 or the Downstream Oil Deregulation Act of 1994.

BOI is giving incentives to projects of this type in order to encourage oil industry players to invest in facilities that will ensure adequate and continuous supply of clean and high-quality petroleum products.

Seaoil’s new facility provides an additional capacity of 36.9 million liters of diesel and gasoline to its existing depot in the southern part of Mindanao, which already has a capacity of storing 41.05 million liters of petroleum products.

The firm’s storage facility in Mindanao now has a total capacity of 78.15 million liters.

“This combined capacity is actually more than enough to accommodate the average daily requirement of 73 million liters of fuel nationwide,” Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said.

“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,” Rodolfo added.

Meanwhile, BOI mentioned that another industry player, Petron Corp., is on track in its expansion plan for its oil refinery complex in Bataan. The expansion project targets to increase the capacity from 180,000 barrels a day to 270,000 to 300,000 barrels a day by 2022.

BOI noted that these expansion projects in the local oil industry will address the increasing fuel demand in the coming years. (PNA)

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