Petron to sell bottled coco-biodiesel products

Petron Corp. has finally expressed support on the use of alternative fuels, particularly coco-biodiesel, a ranking company official said.

Petron president Khalid Al-Faddagh said that as of now, Petron has committed selling bottled coco-biodiesel products in their gasoline stations. 

"We already made a statement  that we can offer the bottled coco-biodiesel products," he said.

It will be recalled that Petron has been one of the oil firms that have been hesitant to use coco-biodiesel in the past. 

Industry sources said an oil firm which is partly-owned by the government which has been pushing and promoting the use of alternative fuels including coco-biodiesel due to the continuing volatility of global oil prices. Petron is 40 percent owned by the state-owned Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC).

Experts feel that coco-biodiesel will allow consumers to save up to 10 to 20 percent on their fuel consumption.

While it supports the sale of bottled coco-biodiesel, Al-Faddagh, however, said the company remains hesitant over the proposed one percent pre-blend of coco-methyl ester (CME) or coco-biodiesel on their diesel products. 

"We have some technical concerns with pre-blending that have not been resolved," he said, adding the government should be able to come up with concrete standards that would govern the use of alternative fuels, particularly coco-biodiesel." 

He said they would also need the endorsement of the country’s car manufacturers.

According to the Petron official, they should also be assured by the government of the availability of supply of such products.

"The commitment is there, but we want assurance that we will not encounter problems with pre-blended coco-diesel products in the long-term," he said.