Tuesday, July 31, 2007 Oil depot opens in Lapu City
OIL consumers in Cebu and the Visayas are assured of a steady supply aside from getting more options in the market as a Thailand-based petroleum product distributor opened a depot in Lapu-Lapu City.
Department of Energy-Visayas Director Antonio Labios said the opening of oil and gas firm PTT Philippines Corp.’s first depot in Cebu will offer more alternatives to consumers.
“They (oil companies) will be encouraged to strive for better quality and service, otherwise, consumers will opt to look for an alternative since there are already other options,” he told Sun.Star Cebu during the launching of the fuel depot in Barangay Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City last Friday.
PTT distributes various petroleum products including fuel, lubricant, LPG, natural gas, gas products which are petrochemical feedstock, by-products from natural gas separation which meet the demand of consumers in the household, transportation, business and industrial sectors, according to its website.
Labios said the presence of the depot will also assure the province of a steady supply of oil.
Host city
Aside from bringing in more choices for Cebuanos, the presence of an additional fuel depot in the province also brings in more progress to its “host” city, Lapu-Lapu City Vice Mayor Mario Amores told Sun.Star Cebu in a separate interview.
It is a reflection “that the city is a good host, especially now that” it (Lapu-Lapu) has been “converted into a highly urbanized city,” Amores added.
Amores said the City’s officials felt privileged to be the site of the depot of a multi-national corporation like PTT because “it is an indication that the city is growing.”
He said the operation of the facility will boost the locals’ pride, since it is a “sign of progress and of confidence from the big sectors.”
“When big businesses come, (the) locals are always awed and amazed and their reactions are always good,” Amores said.
Quality
The company, for its part, is confident of its products since it is the number one in Thailand in terms of oil quality and service and number two among the Asian countries, Siripong Phoungpaka, PTT president and chief executive officer, told Sun.Star Cebu in a separate interview.
PTT has been in the country for about 10 years with branches in the different provinces of Luzon.
Phoungpaka projected good business operations and promising returns from the Cebu depot in the next three to five years. He also bared expansion plans.
PTT also plans to tap the other provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao for a continuous expansion of PTT’s retail network, additional fuel storage tanks and depots, Khun Artasith Pothianpin-yanvisuth, PTT chairman, said in his closing speech.
“I think the investments (will rise to) about P500 million” for this expansion, Phoungpaka said.
But PTT’s chairman said the figures could be higher.
“In the coming years, we will continue to implement P2.5 billion to P3 billion worth of investment programs,” Pothianpin-yanvisuth said.
PTT envisions of bringing in “changes in the dynamics of the local oil industry through” its “conscientious effort to instigate” the company’s “commitment to quality service and social responsibility,” the company said in a statement. (TEP)
