DOE-7: Oil depots in region complied with Biofuels Act

Depots in Central Visayas of the three big oil companies have complied with the law’s requirement of one percent blend of bioethanol in all vehicle fuels sold, declared the Department of Energy-7 recently.

DOE regional director Antonio Labios said samples taken from the oil depots of Chevron Caltex Philippines, Pilipinas Shell, and Petron Corporation in Region 7 were already tested and confirmed to have complied with the Biofuels Act of 2006.

The law, authored by then representative and now Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, mandates for a gradual blend of bioethanol into petroleum products starting with one percent within the first year, increasing it to two percent after two years, until the targeted 10 percent bioethanol mix will be achieved by 2010.

Labios said that DOE’s capability for now is to test the depots if these oil companies have complied with the law.

When the regional office gets the testing equipment needed, it will start testing the compliance of the gasoline stations also, he said.

Labios said there have been small independent retailers who buy their supply from these depots. “In one way or the other, they are also complying with the law since they brought it from the source that has complied with the law,” he said.

The Biofuels Act was intended to free the country from total dependency of oil supply from the Middle East, which imports 98 percent of the country’s fuel demand.

Some of the bioethanols fuels have been sourced from agricultural produce such as sugar cane, cassava, corn, and refined coconut and palm oil.  — Ferliza C. Contratista/RAE