Eastern Petroleum investing up to P5 billion in 3 years

MANILA, Philippines —  Independent oil firm Eastern Petroleum Corp. plans to invest up to P5 billion in the next three years to corner five percent of the Philippine liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market, its top official said.

The company is targeting five percent of the entire country’s monthly LPG consumption of 100 million kilograms, Eastern Petroleum chairman and CEO Fernando Martinez told reporters yesterday.

“We hardly scratched the surface since the Philippines consumes 100 million kilos per month. We are below one percent. We want to capture five percent of the market. We need at least three years to fulfil that,” Martinez said.

To meet its target, Eastern Petroleum needs to invest P4 billion to P5 billion to roll out one million LPG tanks, put up depots and acquire trucks for transportation.

For this year, the oil firm is looking to add 50 company-owned LPG outlets to increase its market share.

“We are adding 50 corporate outlets, meaning company-owned. We’re focusing on Metro Manila, Southern Luzon, Central Luzon which constitutes the equivalent of the half of total consumption of LPG for the entire industry,” Martinez said.

This will help the company grow its store count from 140 at end-2018 to 190 by the end of the year.

“We’ll have a market share of 1.1 percent by end of the year, that’s the vision,” Martinez said.

EC Gas is the oil firm’s LPG brand launched in 2013, an explosion-proof cylinder made from composite materials and is up to 10 kilograms lighter compared to the average weight of LPG made from steel.

Its LPG System is designed based on the latest composite cylinder technology that uses seamless polymer, fiberglass construction, and molded HDPE (high-density polyethylene) casing. This technology makes EC Gas cylinders explosion proof even in direct exposure to fire.

The product was awarded as the most innovative product at the Entrepreneur and Franchise Expo 2014.

Eastern Petroleum recently partnered with the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to ensure that Filipino households are safe from LPG-related fires and even deaths beyond the fire prevention month.

Data from the BFP showed that fire incidents in the National Capital Region (NCR) have declined  by 9.3 percent to 4,645 incidents in 2017.  Only 0.58 percent or 27 incidents in NCR had been attributed to LPG explosion due to direct flame contact or static electricity.

On a national scale, the BFP data showed that fire incidents have declined by 26.41 percent to 14,197 in 2017, 0.83 percent of which was caused by LPG.

Martinez said the partnership between Eastern Petroleum and BFP would empower its EC Gas retail network and users with relevant safety tips and techniques on how to prevent fire from occurring.

“We, at Eastern Petroleum and EC Gas, continue to look into developing value added services that equip its retail network with best practices they could share with their household and commercial customers,” he said.

Martinez said these value added services help assure EC Gas users that their tanks are free from any leak, thus ensuring their households and establishment are safe from the perils of pilfered and unmaintained steel tanks.