Philippines: First Locally Produced Ethanol Purchased by Petron
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Friday, 08 August 2008 |
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Petron Corp. said it has bought the first locally produced fuel grade ethanol for blending with its fuel products.
The Philippines’ largest oil refiner said it purchased 23,000 liters of ethanol from Leyte Agri Corp., which owns the first ethanol manufacturing plant in the country.
Petron will blend the ethanol for its E10 fuel product, ahead of the implementation of the Biofuels Law of 2006. This law mandates a five percent ethanol blend in fuel by 2009 and a 10-percent blend by 2011. “The early introduction of our E10 Premium product, ahead of the government mandate, underscores our desire to bring the benefits of ethanol-blended gasoline to our customers and stakeholders as soon as possible,” Nicasio Alcantara, Petron chairman and president, said.
The refiner said that its service station personnel can provide assistance to first-time users who may want more information on the product. To further promote the use of ethanol, Petron signed a memorandum of understanding with San Carlos Bioenergy, Inc. (SCBI) in the middle of 2006 to buy the latter’s entire ethanol output.
SCBI is constructing an integrated sugar mill, cogeneration plant and distillery complex for ethanol production in Negros Occidental. The facility will produce 125,000 liters of ethanol daily. The plant is expected to be operational by the end of this year.
“We strongly support the local production of ethanol as a gasoline additive since it will drive capital investments in rural areas, create more jobs and more importantly, it will lessen the country’s dependence on imported fuel,” Alcantara said.
PetrolWorld 070808
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