PTT vows steady fuel supply in 2007

PTT Philippines Corp. (PTTPC), formerly Subic Bay Distribution Inc. (SBDI), has assured the Philippine government of continued supply of competitively priced fuels to the country next year. PTPC president and CEO Siripong Phoungpaka told Energy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla in a meeting Tuesday that the company remains optimistic on the prospects of the country’s oil industry. PTTPC will also be extending its warmest gratitude this Yuletide season by giving a P2.50-per liter discount on all fuel products sold starting 12 noon Thursday until 12 noon of January 1, 2007, in all their stations nationwide. The discount offered by PTTPC is higher than the P2-per liter "In spirit of Christmas" oil price reduction being offered by Petron Corp.’s Pamaskong Handog, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.’s Pamaskong Balato and Caltex Philippines Inc. Middle of this year, PTTPC has committed to pour in some P3.5 billion to P4 billion worth of investments in the Philippines in the near term. Artasith Pothiapinyanvisuth, executive vice president for commercial and international marketing oil business group, said PTTPC is contemplating of transferring one of their existing lubricants blending plant from Thailand to the Philippines. Pothiapinyanvisuth made the announcement during the launching of PTTPC as a new corporate name of SBDI, PTT Public Co. Ltd. of Thailand. At the same time, PTT also changed the name of its trading arm, Subic Bay Fuels Co. (SBFCI), to PTT Philippines Trading Corp. (PTTTC). PTTTC will be tasked to source products from Thailand, Singapore, Korea and Japan. It will also sell products to companies located in the Subic Bay Free Port, Clark Special Economic Zone and other economic zones in the country. The PTT official said they have yet to identify an area in Metro Manila where to locate the lubricant plant. But he said they would spend about P1 billion for this project. He said the company is also planning to put up a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plant with capacity of 5,000 metric tons (MT) to 10,000 MT. The LPG storage plant is seen to go on commercial operation by 2008 or 2009 in time for the start of PTT’s LPG production in Thailand. The PTT executive said they expect the construction of a five-million liter depot in Cebu to be completed by October and start commercial operation by November this year. This oil terminal will allow PTT to cater to the petroleum market in the region. He said part of the five-year plan is the possibility of putting up an ethanol plant as part of its contribution to the promotion of the use of alternative fuels in the transport sector. Phoungpaka, on the other hand, said of the P5-billion budget for the five-year period, the company would start spending about P500 million this year. Portion of this budget will go to the construction of additional 50 retail gas stations all over the country in the next two years. To date, PPTPC has 16 gas refilling stations. In the next five to 10 years, they expect to put up some 100 to 200 stations nationwide. According to Phoungpaka, they also want to introduce the new style of service station similar to what they have in Thailand, which they call "one-stop-shop" stations. These stations have unique features like banking facilities aside from the usual locators. He said they are also looking at the possibility of putting up service stations in Mindanao, north Luzon and Subic/Poro point expressways. PTTPC’s storage facilities are located in Subic Bay and Clark Field with combined capacity of three million barrels. Phoungpaka said the expansion program in the Philippines is part of the overall strategy of PTT Group to go global. PTT has extensive experience in petroleum, petrochemical and exploration with market value of more than $24 billion as of end-2005. -GMANews.TV