THE Department of Energy (DOE) said Monday that Petromobil Corp., which was allegedly involved in fuel smuggling, has no certificate of compliance (COC).
“We certified to the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] that it has no COC with us,” said DOE Director for Oil Industry Management Bureau Rino Abad in a Viber message.
Under DOE circular 2017-11-0011, oil firms operating without a COC constitutes illegal trading. A penalty of P10,000 is imposed on the violator. The DOE may also recommend to the local government unit (LGU) the revocation of Petromobil’s business permit.
Abad said the DOE will immediately inspect the service stations of Petromobil following the field testing operation conducted by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue last September 3.
The BOC seized 6,357 liters of unmarked diesel at Petromobil’s service station in Arayat, Pampanga. The follow-up field testing operations resulted in BOC ordering the closure of another Petromobil retail station in Angeles City in Pampanga, while other stations of the oil company in Rizal and Bulacan were also found with deficient fuel marker levels of 20 percent and below.
Abad said he is already coordinating with the BOC, which is in on top of oil smuggling activities.
“We will also inspect and the results of which will be the basis of our recommendation to the LGU to cancel the business permit and to close the stations. We need information from the BOC since there are no Petromobil gasoline stations registered with us. That is why we are coordinating with BOC so that it can give us details for us to proceed with our inspection,” said Abad.
Oil companies have made it a priority to comply with the government’s fuel marking program, which aims to plug revenue leakages from oil smuggling by placing a molecular marker on imported, manufactured and refined fuel products.
According to estimates by the Department of Finance and the Asian Development Bank, the loss of national revenue due to oil smuggling and misdeclaration can reach as high as P40 billion. The government’s fuel marking program establishes a system for identifying fuel that has paid the correct import and excise duties.
The oil firms are optimistic that the fuel marking program will significantly address fuel smuggling, which has been a constant deterrent to the continued growth of economy. Consumers also stand to gain as all fuel products in the market will be legitimately sourced.