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THE
Department of Energy (DOE) reported Tuesday that the
country’s total oil import slightly increased last year
compared with 2006 owing to the continuous surge in
world oil prices.
“The
country’s total oil-import bill has increased by 10
percent to $8.8 billion last year, from $8 billion in
2006 with oil prices last year reaching record-high
levels compared with 2006,” the DOE said.
A table
the DOE furnished to reporters showed that total
oil-import volumes inched up by 0.7 percent to 120.1
million barrels last year, from 119.3 million barrels in
2006.
The DOE
further noted that fuel consumption has increased by 0.6
percent with the country’s net oil-import volume posting
101.4 million barrels last year from 100.8 million
barrels in 2006.
The DOE
added the country’s net oil-import bill has increased by
13.6 percent to $7.5 billion last year, from $6.6
billion in 2006.
Earlier,
the Asian Institute of Petroleum Studies Inc. (Aipsi)
said the acceleration of implementing the 2-percent
biodiesel blend (B2) could help mitigate the impact of
world oil prices.
“The
government should also come up with its official
timetable for the implementation of the 3-percent to
5-percent biodiesel blend. The purpose of establishing a
target timetable is to encourage investors to continue
coming in,” Rafael S. Diaz, Aipsi managing director,
said.
With the
projected annual diesel volume demand of 6.32 billion
liters this year, according to Diaz, a B1 or 1-percent
biodiesel blend mandate require only a total of 63.2
million liters of cocomethyl ester (CME) per year.
He added
that once the B1 or B2 volume requirement are captured
by existing manufacturers, the incentive for new
investment (i.e., new manufacturer) will be eliminated.
He added
there are a total of more than six CME manufacturers
with a total production capacity of close to 200 million
liters per year.
“And
3-percent blend [B3] will only require 191.7 million
liters of CME per year. There is now more than enough
CME production to cover at least a B2 blend,” Diaz said.
He said
the cost impact of a B2 is not on the direct savings in
cost as a substitute fuel, but mainly on mileage
improvement for its additive qualities.
Diaz
said that a B2 blend will also accelerate oxygenation,
lubrication, cleansing and declogging of the fuel system
to restore atomization and combustion efficiency.
“A
conservative 10-percent improvement in mileage, if it
were the national average, translates to a 9.1-percent
reduction in diesel-fuel consumption representing an
annual savings of P21.28 billion [6.32 billion
liters/year x 0.091 x P37/liter],” Diaz said. |
