Unioil sets P400-M budget for expansion

MANILA, Philippines - Independent oil firm Unioil Petroleum Philippines, Inc. is investing roughly P400 million to roll out 20 stations a year or 60 stations by 2015 as part of its expansion program, its top official said yesterday.

Unioil president Kenneth Pundanera said the original target was to add only 12 stations a year over five years but the company decided to accelerate the expansion program to address growing demand and increase Unioil’s market share.

At present, Unioil has a network of 33 retail gasoline stations, mostly company owned but operated by authorized dealers.

“At present our overall market share is two to three percent. We aim to grow more. We want to grow the retail segment,” Pundanera told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of its all Euro IV-compliant fuel product line.

He said the plan is to saturate the Luzon market before expanding to Visayas and Mindanao.

The budget would be raised through a combination of internally-generated funds and loans from private banks, Pundanera also said.

Unioil is optimistic that business would remain strong in the medium-term especially after the company upgraded all its fuel products to Euro IV standards.

With the upgrade, all Unioil products – Euro Diesel IV, Euro IV Gasoline95 and Euro IVGasoline97 – are now Euro IV-compliant.

The Euro IV standard is a globally accepted European emission standard for vehicles. The Euro 4 standards require fuel to have significantly low amounts of sulfur and benzene.

Euro IV-compliant fuels have a significantly lower sulfur content of 50 ppm (parts per million) compared to the current Philippine standard of 500 ppm.

Richard Abalos, head of Unioil’s laboratory department, said that aside from being Euro IV-compliant, the new line of Unioil products were enhanced using world class additives and tested in various laboratories in order to arrive at a unique formulation aimed to enhance engine performance.

“We’re giving you the fuel of the future,” Abalos said during the launch.

Pundanera said there would be no price increase in the products despite the higher standards.

Unioil launched the first Euro IV standard diesel fuel in the Philippines in 2012.