State-run PNOC Exploration Corp. is set to import cheaper diesel within the month, after the company’s board approved the plan Wednesday.
PNOC Exploration president and chief executive Pedro Aquino said the imports would be around P5 cheaper per liter than the prevailing pump prices.
Aquino said in a radio interview the company received an offer that was below the benchmark price of the Mean of Platts Singapore. MOPS is the benchmark pricing used by oil refiners in the region.
He said the company had not chosen a supplier yet because negotiations for the final price was still ongoing.
“It depends on the price we will get, but if we are able to get a price lower than the MOPS of Singapore, initially that is P5 less than the pump price,” Aquino said.
Aquino said the initial plan was to import 50,000 metric tons of diesel that would cost around P2 billion.
“I think it will be approved [by board] because what we aim to achieve is to bring down the cost of petroleum,” he said.
Aquino said the company would tap “aggregators” to distribute the lower-priced diesel to consumers.
“The program runs like this. The gasoline station owners or dealers, they will have aggregators because we really lack the machinery to distribute it. The aggregator will stand as distributor to dealer members in their specific region,” he said.
He said the aggregators would have an agreement with PNOC-EC to prioritize public utility vehicles. He said the company would suspend the contract of the aggregator if it received complaints that it was not giving out the discounts to consumers.
Aquino said he was hoping that the low-priced diesel could be brought in within the month. The company has yet to sign agreements with aggregators and ensure the readiness of its oil depot.
PNOC-EC earlier negotiated with fuel suppliers for the delivery of an initial shipment of 50,000 metric tons of Euro-4 gas or diesel fuel.
Energy Undersecretary Donato Marcos earlier said the chosen supplier should be able to supply cheaper fuel to PNOC EC.
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the planned oil importation of PNOC-EC would help mitigate the impact of high oil prices on consumers.