SEAOIL Philippines, Inc. has announced that it has set to formally open its biggest oil storage facility in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. With a 41-million liter capacity, this SEAOIL terminal will be the largest in Southern Mindanao.
The SEAOIL Sta. Cruz Bulk Terminal has a berthing facility that can receive medium-range vessels of up to 50,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT). It can also handle domestic size tankers for local distribution and sales.
“We invested Php 500 million for this depot alone. We saw the need for the construction of a new liquid bulk storage terminal to serve the growing demand of fuel products in Southern Mindanao area,” said Stephen Yu, SEAOIL Chief Operations Officer.
SEAOIL now operates 10 depots and terminals across the country, representing 160 million liters of oil storage capacity.
“The SEAOIL Sta. Cruz Bulk Terminal should be able to serve around 200 stations that will employ about 2,000 people directly and upwards of that number indirectly. It shall also serve other commercial industries in the surrounding area and provinces. As the terminal shall import directly in large quantities, it shall be able to reduce if not eliminate domestic marine freight costs providing for a fundamentally lower cost structure,” added Yu.
By 2015, SEAOIL expects to have 500 stations nationwide, all bearing revised signage and priceboard designs, plus brighter LED lighting. The company has undertaken a station upgrade for the past few months. Coupled with a partnership that brings premium STP additives to enhance all grades of SEAOIL fuels, the company has said the changes would contribute to increasing its market share.
SEAOIL was also declared the recent sole winner of the bid for a two-hectare location along the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX). The Bases Conversion and Development Authority, which is in charge of the project, will enter into a 25-year lease and development agreement with SEAOIL.
SEAOIL will build its first megastation in the area, complete with parking areas, emergency stations, convenience stores and restaurants. The SEAOIL megastation in SCTEX will be fully operational by the first quarter of 2015.