SEAOIL Philippines Inc. will be introducing to the local market a
diesel product that complies with more the stringent emission standards
used in the European Union following the signing of a $ 30 million
agreement with a Korean supplier.
In a statement, SEAOIL president Francis Glenn Yu said they have forged an agreement with SK Networks, a major South Korean trading house, for the supply of Euro-5 diesel over the next six months. SK Networks, a vital unit of the South Korean global conglomerate SK Corporation and one of its main marketing divisions, is a leading player in the global trading of oil, gas, coal, steel and chemical products.
The supply contract, worth over $ 30 million, will make SEAOIL the first company to offer Euro-5 diesel to Filipino motorists, Yu said. At present, diesel being sold in the Philippines is only at Euro-2 standard. The European emission standards consist of sets of requirements defining the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of new vehicles sold in the European Union member states. These standards specify the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent fuel regulations requiring a minimum of 10ppm Sulfur content and diesel cetane number (CN) of 51.
Reduced Sulfur is a key enabler in realizing reduced tail pipe emissions and CN is a measure of the combustion quality of diesel fuel during compression ignition or the fuel¢s ignition delay. Thus, the higher the CN, the shorter the ignition delays period, the lower the sulfur, the more air quality benefits. Generally, diesel engines run well with a CN from 40 to 55. Hence, higher speed diesels operate more effectively with higher CN fuels.
Yu, who signed the supply deal with SK Networks general manager for the Resources and Energy Division Kyong Mun Cha and SK Networks manager for petroleum trading Jason Lee, said Euro-5 diesel would further boost SEAOIL’s product line that already boasts of several pioneering efforts.
The company started the use of biofuels and other alternative fuels in the country with the introduction of the use of ethanol as a gasoline blend. In 2005, it made the first ethanol-blended gasoline or E10 available to the public, two years ahead of the implementation of the Biofuels Act. At present, SEAOIL, an independent fuel retailer, offers a 10 percent blend of ethanol in all its gasoline products as well as a one percent blend in all its diesel products.
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