Eastern Petroleum to begin work on $60-M biomass plant in Q3 2013

Eastern Petroleum Corp. is set to begin construction of its $60-million, 20-megawatt biomass power plant in Agusan del Sur in the third quarter of 2013, according to company CEO Fernando Martinez. The oil firm expects its first biomass plant to begin operations in 2015. In a statement, Martinez said that the plant will source its feedstock requirements from a 10,000-hectare industrial tree plantation to be established in a joint venture Eastern Petroleum entered into through subsidiary Eastern Renewables Fuels Corp. with the Manobo tribal council in the province. “With each hectare needing at least 1,000 seedlings to be planted and harvested within five years, estimated job generation and income for the indigenous community will provide substantial economic impact to their Manobo tribe, which was earlier awarded a 50,000-hectare Tenural Title under Ancestral land domain,” the statement also said. Eastern Petroleum will also raise P2 billion for its capital expenditures for 2013, four times its capex last year. The amount will be used to expand the number of the company's retail stations from 40 to 100, with the 60 new stations to go up nationwide; and to build a 4-hectare, P800-million oil depot with a capacity of 35 million liters in Davao. With the planned expansion, Eastern Petroleum expects sales revenues of P5 billion to P6 billion this year from P3 billion in 2012, and to generate a net income of P150 million to P200 million this year. — BM, GMA News