PNOC EC oil exports to Bangladesh, Indonesia up

PNOC Exploration Corp. (PNOC EC) aims to maintain oil exports to Bangladesh and Indonesia, which rose slightly in 2014 compared to 2013 shipments.

Oil deliveries to Bangladesh via state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corp. (BPC) reached 382,759 metric tons (MT) for 2014 worth about $342.3 million, company president and CEO Pedro A. Aquino Jr. told the Inquirer. The initial estimate for 2014 was 382,751 MT.

The total volume consisted of gas oil, motor gasoline or mogas and high speed fuel oil or HSFO. In 2013, PNOC EC sold 382,751.93MT to Bangladesh composed of gas oil, mogas, and HSFO.

Volumes for Indonesia in 2014 reached 163,000 MT of mogas and gas oil worth about $149.4 million. The initial estimate was 146,533.7 MT. This is slightly higher than the previous year’s trade of 146,533.227 MT to Indonesia, also consisting of mogas and gas oil.

“We are hoping we can increase the volume but it seems it will be the same this year (2015),” Aquino said.

PNOC EC partners with global commodities giant Glencore for its exports, the official said.

“BPC, for example, can only deal with government agencies under the terms of the financing it gets from the ADB (Asian Development Bank) so it has to deal with another state firm like us. So we link the two,” Aquino said.

In 2012, PNOC-EC expanded its international oil trading business to include Sri Lanka and Indonesia aside from Bangladesh in partnership with Astra Oil Co. and Glencore Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Aquino said oil exports were good for PNOC-EC because this line of business did not entail exposure of our company’s funds.

The state firm is mainly into upstream or oil and gas exploration activities. However, PNOC-EC had ventured into the downstream business as early as 1996 for more income streams.

Aquino said the company was maintaining certain downstream energy activities when there are opportunities to do so. The company is into coal marketing and trading and has said it was considering reviving its government-to-government arrangements with other state-owned companies to get preferential rates for coal products.

A statutory organization of the Bangladesh government under the Energy & Mineral Resources Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy & Mineral Resources, BPC earlier announced that it had closed deals with the Philippine firm, among other sources, for its requirements.

BPC supervises, coordinates and controls all activities relating to import, store, marketing, distribution of petroleum products in its country. BPC also develops infrastructure facilities to deal in the energy industry.

“Oil sector is considered to be the most sensitive sector of economy and macro economic indicators are greatly influenced by the supply and price movement of petroleum products. By considering its sensitivity to economy, government has taken oil sector under its absolute control by establishing this organization,” BPC chair and Secretary Md Eunusur Rahman said in a statement that was posted on the company website.

BPC started operating in 1977. Riza T. Olchondra