THE Board of Investments (BOI) has approved the registration of Seaoil Philippines’s additional depot facility in Davao del Sur intended to further cut down gas prices in Mindanao.
The BOI has given the green light to Seaoil’s four storage tank oil depot in Davao del Sur with a combined capacity of 36.9 million liters and is reported to contain gasoline and diesel fuels. The P287-million project qualified for bulk marketing of petroleum products under the Investment Priorities Plan-Special Laws list.
The list pertains to Republic Act 8478, or the Downstream Oil Deregulation Act of 1994, which liberalized the downstream oil industry in order to ensure a competitive market under a regime of fair prices, and adequate and continuous supply of environmentally clean and high-quality petrol. It aims to encourage the participation of new industry players through the provision of incentives.
The approved activity started operating in September, and provides the oil firm an additional 36.9 million liters of gasoline and diesel to its existing 41.05 million liters of storage in southern Mindanao. This translates to a sum of 78.15 million liters of fuel capacity for Seaoil.
“This combined capacity is actually more than enough to accommodate the average daily requirement of 73 million liters of fuel nationwide. The additional storage capacity 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 S. Rodolfo Jr. said.
The BOI said Seaoil already has one of the lowest per-liter prices of petrol in Mindanao.
Citing the company’s report, the BOI said the additional depot facility in Davao del Sur could lead to a price drop of around 10 percent, or about P5 cheaper than prevailing prices. This is on top of weekly rollbacks due to the continuing decline in international crude prices.
The BOI also approved the application of Balayan Bay Batangas Development Inc. as a new producer of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate, coconut fatty alcohol sulfate and sodium lauryl ether sulfate with a total sulfonation capacity of 40,000 metric tons annually. BBBDI’s new project is valued at P820 million.
The oleochemicals project is located in Phoenix Petrochemicals and Industrial Park in Calaca, Batangas. Commercial operations kicked off in October with 102 workers. The chemicals produced by BBBDI are considered essentials in laundry detergent and personal-care items, such as toothpaste, soap bars, shower cream and shampoo.
“Local manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods such as home personal care and cleaning products, together with the upstream oleochemicals industry, stands to greatly benefit from this project. The products to be produced by BBBDI will serve as a cost-efficient substitution to previous imported oleochemicals. Local produce means shorter order to delivery lead time, better quality, better pricing and more flexibility,” Rodolfo said.