New oil player eyes lease arrangement with Thai fi

Eastern Petroleum Corp. (EPC), a new oil player in the downstream industry, is exploring the possibility of leasing the refining facilities of a Thailand-based oil refiner, a ranking company official said.

EPC chairman Fernando Martinez said this Thailand oil firm is one of the biggest oil players in Asian. He said they hope to firm up the negotiations next month as they want to take advantage of the opportunity being offered by EPC’s petroleum supplier in the Middle East.

"We have to come up with a processing agreement by October or we will not be availing the window of opportunity to tap Iraq for our petroleum supply," he said without elaborating.

Martinez said they are still negotiating with Caltex Singapore for a similar agreement. But up to now, he said there is no definite on the matter.

Since the passage of the Oil Deregulation Act in 1998, EPC has put up at least 30 service stations, most of them in Luzon.

EPC is also eyeing an opportunities in oil exploration.

Last January, the company announced its plan to increase its authorized capital stock to P500 million this year from P45 million to finance its expansion project in the medium-term. — Donnabelle Gatdula