Eastern Petroleum in talks with foreign partners for non-oil ventures

Eastern Petroleum Corp.(EPC) is looking at the possibility of diversifying its operations into non-oil businesses, a ranking company official said.

"We are looking at other investments outside of the oil industry. These ventures are related to energy and power," EPC chairman Fernando Martinez told The STAR.

Martinez said for these ventures, they would be tapping various foreign investors. "At present, we are scouting for partners to do these ventures."

But he added they foresee these ventures would be realized only after the May elections.

"Most of the investors we have talked with are still on a wait-and-see attitude. Though they are willing to invest, they do not want to commit until after the results of the elections are known," Martinez said.

EPC was one of the first small oil players established after the Oil Deregulation Law was passed in 1998.

Earlier, EPC said they plan to diversify into oil and gas exploration to be able to expand its business.

It has also expanded its operation in Mindanao by putting up an oil depot in Davao.

Most of the small oil players, including EPC, have been aggressively expanding their operations to be able to corner a bigger a portion of the domestic oil market.

Last year, the small players accounted for a combined share of about 14 percent of the market.

This year, they expect to increase this share by another two percent, or to 16 percent.