LPG-FILLED CANISTERS. Pascal Resources Energy Inc. Chairman and CEO Nelson Par demonstrates to Cebu media the procedure in using the Gaz Lite Mate, a 230-gram liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) refillable canisters to a portable stove, during the product launch in Cebu City on Tuesday (Dec. 17, 2019). The company introduced the new product to help the government campaign against illegally-refilled butane gas canisters. (Contributed photo)
CEBU CITY -- To help the government campaign against illegally-refilled butane canisters, a cooking gas maker has introduced in Cebu a 230-gram version of refillable aluminum liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) canister usable with current models of LPG-rated portable gas stoves and grillers.
“As the Department of Energy has warned, butane canisters are for single-use only and should not be refilled with LPG. Butane canisters are not built to withstand the pressure of LPG. It is a real safety risk and fire hazard,” said Matthew Par, assistant vice-president for brand and marketing of Pascal Resources Energy, Inc. (PREI), during their launching Tuesday of their new product in a hotel here.
He described their new product, Gas Lite Mate, as a viable solution to many consumers who are still using butane canisters and wrongfully refilling them with LPG, adding their refillable LPG canister “presents a safer, cost-efficient and green solution to using traditional fuels”.
The company, he said, has identified the Western and Central Visayas as priority markets for its products where they can introduce cleaner and safer cooking fuels instead of traditional one like kerosene, wood and charcoal which “not only deplete natural resources, but also cause potential harm to health.
"The company considers itself a social enterprise, addressing energy poverty by offering LPG in a more accessible format to the marginalized sector. An estimated 60 percent of families across the country still use wood and charcoal for cooking which typically costs them PHP30 per day," a statement from the company said.
Consumers can buy a starter kit that includes a portable stove called “Eazy Kalan” available in six different colors. But with Gaz Lite Mate, consumers can now purchase LPG canisters for their existing stove or grill.
Each 330-gram canister of Gaz Lite has suggested retail price of PHP145, inclusive of deposit and refills at PHP65, while the smaller version Gaz Lite Mate can be bought at PHP95 with deposit and the refill cost is pegged at PHP45.
PREI was a product of a corporate social responsibility project of an oil company. Its flagship product, Gaz Lite, is available in the top five regions that still widely use solid fuels, including Calabarzon, Bicol and Central Luzon.
The product has been conferred the Philippine Standard Quality (PS) mark from the Bureau of Philippine Standards of the Department of Trade and Industry. (PNA)
