Eastern Petroleum expects to triple income next year

MANILA, Philippines - Eastern Petroleum Corp. said it expects its net income to climb to P300 million next year, from a projected P100 million this year, following the launch of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) business yesterday.

The oil company launched its LPG cylinder dubbed EC Gas, an explosion-proof cylinder made from composite materials and is up to 10 kilograms lighter compared to the average weight of steel LPG.

Fernando Martinez, Eastern Petroleum president and chief executive officer, said the most important feature of the cylinder, supplied by Norway-based Hexagon Ragasco AS, is that it is explosion proof even if set on fire.  Ragasco is a leading producer of composite pressure containers.

EC Gas officials said unlike ordinary LPG steel tanks that could explode when exposed to flames, the EC Gas LPG cylinder has non-explosive qualities, even with the presence of open flames, thus making it a significantly safer alternative for Filipino homes.

“On top of this, our product’s custom-built gas regulator works in synergy with the composite cylinder—complete with a snap on feature, a valve switch and a flow limiter which make it easy to control and stop gas from escaping in the event of a hose rupture,” said Jose Carlos Martinez, division manager for EC Gas.

At the grand launch of the product at the Manila Polo Club yesterday, Martinez said the company is eyeing to sell 100,000 units by the end of the year or monthly sales of P70 million.