Local energy firm allots P100 million for expansion

MANILA, Philippines - Veredium Energy Ventures Inc., a Filipino-owned petroleum technology company backed by European partners, plans to invest about P100 million for its expansion in the Philippine downstream petroleum industry over the next two years.

Veredium president and CEO Petteri Makitalo told a press conference yesterday that the investment will cover the company’s intensive marketing campaign in the Philippines for Italy’s top engine oil brand Agip.

Makitalo said the Agip product lines have been recognized not only as the most environmentally friendly but also offered at reasonable costs.

“Veredium products are the first and only engine oils in the Philippines and the region to have earned the Green Choice seal for our strict adherence to stringent technical and environmental standard. These standards include a minimum 10,000-kilometer oil change interval and a system of retrieval and disposal of at least 25 percent of engine oil sold,” Makitalo said.

Veredium is the exclusive distributor of Agip lubricants and is the exclusive partner of Germany’s BASF A.G. for performance chemicals.

Through its affiliate Veredium Europe, the company provides services to Asian companies and develops new markets in Western and Eastern Europe.

As part of the company’s aggressive long-term expansion program in the Philippines, Makitalo said they are also planning to put up a blending plant.

“If the sales are good in the next two to three years, we may consider constructing a blending facility or partner with an existing company with a blending plant,” he said.

Though Makitalo did not indicate the projects cost, it was estimated that a 15-million liter plant would need at least $500,000 in capital. Veredium has a blending facility in Singapore.

Based on its expansion plan, the company is targeting at least 15 million liters in sales annually, a small chunk of the industry’s total market of 156 million liters.

The company has also set up a lubricant warehouse in Iligan City to complement its expansion in Mindanao.

Under its marketing strategy, it will saturate the market by topping distributors who will, in turn, target at least 100 retailers.

“To ensure the growth of our business, we have established a formidable network of dealers and distributors in Metro Manila. Furthermore, we are planning to aggressively add to our network of business partners in other key growth areas outside of NCR. We see this as key to the expansion of our distribution influence, which will in turn drive sales,” he said.

Incorporated seven years ago, Veredium is chaired by former senator Leticia Ramos Shahani.

Makitalo, meanwhile, is a co-founder and trustee of the Foreign Chambers Council of the Philippines and also a trustee of the Philippine-Finland Association.