Monday, March 05, 2007 Firm warns of oil price hike
OIL giant Chevron Philippines said prices of fuels will likely go up with the upcoming imposition of the Bio-fuels Law in May.
"For bio-diesel, you would have heard us saying that May 7 is a bit early for conversion of the entire logistical infrastructure to handle bio-diesel. Our industry was looking for a longer time period or more like what we're doing for ethanol -- because we have to change a lot of things -- but the law is the law and on May 6, we will have bio-diesel," said Chevron Philippines manager Randy Johnson.
He said converting all their existing facilities as well as the production of bio-diesel would be higher and this would definitely affect the prices of their products.
"But our cost of producing bio-diesel and having it at the service stations can be higher than it needed to be. Well, the pump prices are set on the street but our cost will change and over time whoever buys product typically pays our cost," he said.
But if the government would give them enough time, Johnson said they might be able to lower down the cost or bring it to the current level.
"We need more time and there are still some issues around bio-diesel. Our position is not unknown, but they elected to do differently and since it's a law and we will comply with the law," he said.
Johnson said they would need at least US$3.7 million for the implementation of bio-diesel and they "can't do that all in three months."
Petron Corporation and Pilipinas Shell are asking that the implementation of the Bio-fuels Law be deferred so as to give them much longer transition period to enable them to comply. (MSN/Sunnex)
