Unioil pushes retail expansion; launches Euro IV-compliant fuels

Independent Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc. (UPPI) is into achieving new milestones in its operations with the full rollout of Euro IV-compliant fuels at its stations as well as with planned accelerated expansion of the retail segment of its operations.
Unioil President Kenneth C. Pundanera said that the company will be spending PHP400 million (US$9.2 million) annually to target 20 additional stations each year for three years. The company currently has 33 retail outlets.
“At present our overall market share is two to three percent. We aim to grow more. We want to grow the retail segment,” Pundanera told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of its all Euro IV-compliant fuel product line.
Three stations are already up for completion and 17 more will be constructed which will be operational by the first quarter of 2014, he said.
Pundanera said it will take 10 months for stations to be set up from approval processes, design to actual construction and commissioning.
The funding for the projects will be sourced internally and from loans. The cost per station, at mid-size design, will be PHP15 million (US$346,294) to PHP20 million (US$461,726).
He said the plan is to saturate the Luzon market before expanding to Visayas and Mindanao.
Unioil is optimistic that business would remain strong in the medium-term especially after the company upgraded all its fuel products to Euro IV standards.
With the upgrade, all Unioil products – Euro Diesel IV, Euro IV Gasoline95 and Euro IVGasoline97 – are now Euro IV-compliant.
Euro IV-compliant fuels have a significantly lower sulfur content of 50 parts per million (ppm) compared to the current Philippine standard of 500 ppm.
Richard Abalos, head of Unioil’s laboratory department, said that aside from being Euro IV-compliant, the new line of Unioil products were enhanced using world-class additives and tested in various laboratories in order to arrive at a unique formulation aimed to enhance engine performance.
“We’re giving you the fuel of the future,” Abalos said during the launch.
While acknowledging that their presence in the retail segment is relatively small compared to the entire industry’s 4,000 stations, the message of the company on its advanced rollout of Euro IV fuels is making possible the introduction of cleaner fuels for the local market. Recently, Petron also launched its own brand of Euro IV fuels.