DOE mulls common oil depot

The Department of Energy (DOE)is batting for the creation of a common depot for the oil companies’ oil imports, as part of efforts to curb the smuggling of petroleum products.

In an interview during the Oil Industry Forum sponsored by the Philippine Institute of Petroleum (PIP) and Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA), Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez said they are planning to bring up this proposal to the industry players.

"The idea is to designate a common oil (customs) depot that can import directly from abroad. If there is a common place where we can put the oil imports, we can easily determine which items have proper papers and can monitor those products that are complying with the industry’s product standards. We can also prevent smuggling and at the same time rationalize the taxation of petroleum products," he said.

Perez said the DOE is trying to seek the active participation of the Department of Finance (DOF) and its attached agencies — Bureau of Customs (BOC) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) — to determine if this scheme could work.

"This is supposed to be one part of the bonded warehouse scheme that we are looking at. We have to solicit the comments of the industry regarding this," Perez said.

Another DOE official said the proposed scheme will also enable government authorities to easily track down the flow of petroleum imports into the country.

"If the industry players will agree among themselves, we can have this common depot. This will make it easy for the BOC and the BIR to monitor the entry of these products," the official said.

At present, oil companies maintain a number of oil warehouses all over the country, making it difficult for government authorities to keep an eye on the movements of these products, thus opening an avenue for smuggling.

The official, however, said that the proposal is very "preliminary"and would have to be discussed with the industry stakeholders for "finetuning".

Aside from this scheme, the DOE is also looking at other aspects of taxation of petroleum products that can be reviewed and revised, if necessary.