Unioil willing to share fuel supply
By ELLSON A. QUISMORIO, MANILA BULLETIN
October 29, 2009, 7:12pm
Admitting that lesser-known oil firms could take a serious financial hit
and close shop because of the price freeze order, Unioil Petroleum
Philippines said Thursday that it is ready to offer these more obscure gas
stations a helping hand.
Unioil General Manager Chito Medina-Cue, Jr. said they are willing to
share their petroleum products to new oil players with small retail
stations across the country that could not get enough supply at fair
dealer prices.
“We want to help these new players by providing them enough supply,
especially those who are suffering from losses and cannot continue with
their businesses,” Cue said.
By providing them cache of fuel, Unioil can offer the retail station
owners a sub-lease contract to continue operating instead of closing down
which may affect the supply in the local market.
“Unioil can offer these new players a five-year contract to ensure a
steady supply of fuel products in their respective areas where they are
located,” Cue said.
“With this program, we will be giving them specific margins to make
profits even in just a specific amount. We will also be giving them
incentives similar to our dealer-owned stations for them to survive,”
explained the oil firm executive.
Cue said that interested parties need only to contact the company’s retail
department (tel. no. 687-8877) to avail of the sub-lease program.
Filipino-owned Unioil, considered a small player in the oil industry, was
the first to comply with Executive Order (EO) 839 which called on all oil
companies to revert to their October 15 price levels until Luzon is no
longer in a State of Calamity.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave out the directive last October 23
to prevent unnecessary increases on fuel prices following the devastation
caused by recent typhoons.
The so-called “Big Three” composed of Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corp.,
Chevron Philippines, and other oil firms heeded the EO earlier this week
but at the same time dangled the possibility of a fuel shortage if the
price cap carries on long enough.
Cue earlier guaranteed that Unioil would not encounter a shortage, noting
that there is a steady supply of finished petroleum products in the
international market.
“We cannot deny the fact that all of us are not making money in this kind
of situation and there's no exception,” Cue said. “But Unioil is willing
to sacrifice to help the consuming public because at the end of the day,
all of us can still survive whether it’s small or big players.”
Meanwhile, dozens of militants comprising the Pagkakaisa ng mga Manggagawa
sa Transportasyson (PMT) voiced out their disgust at the Big Three via
demonstrations at the oil firms’ offices Thursday morning in Makati City.
The protesters denounced the major oil companies for holding the public
“hostage” with their unreasonable price increases, the last few of which
were implemented just days removed from “Ondoy” and “Pepeng’s” wrath.
Shell, Petron, and Chevron control over 80 percent of the country’s oil
industry.
The angry militants during their short programs also paraded a picture of
Department of Energy (DoE) Secretary Angelo Reyes, whom they called the
Big Three’s “puppy.” Reyes has long been criticized for failing to get
tough on price hike-happy oil players.