PTT to sell Euro IV-compliant fuel by year-end

MANILA, Philippines - PTT Philippines Corp., the local unit of Thailand’s largest petroleum company, is ready to sell Euro IV-compliant gasoline products by the end of this year, ahead of the mandatory schedule.

The local unit is ready to comply with the Department of Energy (DOE) directive  requiring oil companies to be ready with Euro IV-compliant fuels by Jan. 1, 2016, PTT Philippines president and CEO Sukanya Seriyothin said.

“We always comply. For Euro IV, we plan to implement in the last quarter of this year,” she said.

Seriyothin said the Euro IV fuels would be imported from the refinery of PTT Group in Thailand.

“Our refinery in Thailand is already Euro IV compliant,” she said.

The Euro IV standard is a globally accepted European emission benchmark for vehicles which requires fuel to have significantly low amounts of sulfur and benzene.

Euro IV-compliant fuels have a significantly lower sulfur content of 50 ppm (parts per million) compared to the current Philippine standard of 500 ppm.

PTT Philippines was among the oil companies which had asked government to delay the implementation to next year instead of July 2015.

Earlier this year, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources came out with a circular requiring the use of Euro IV fuel and imposes stricter emissions standards for all vehicles starting July 2015.

Independent oil company UniOil was the first to make available Euro IV compliant fuels back in 2012. 

Meanwhile, Petron Corp., the country largest oil refiner, started producing Euro IV compliant gasoline products, making it available in its service stations in Mega Manila six months ahead of schedule.