II. Industry Profile

A. DOWNSTREAM OIL INDUSTRY

a) LIQUID FUEL and LPG

i. Background

The passage of R.A. 8479 otherwise known as the “Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998” liberated and deregulated the country’s downstream oil industry to ensure a truly competitive market and an adequate and continuous supply of environmentally clean and high-quality petroleum products. To attain the goals, the government continue to encourage the entry of new investors in the downstream oil industry.

Pursuant to RA 8479, the Department of Energy through the Oil Industry Management Bureau (DOE-OIMB) is mandated to monitor the refining, manufacturing, and marketing processes of petroleum products to ensure that clean and safe technologies are applied.

Consistent with our commitment to monitor the Downstream Oil Sector effectively; the DOE, through its bureau OIMB, adopts and implements, Department Circular 2021-09-0029 or the Guidelines on Notices and Reportorial Requirements Pursuant to the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act which applies to the following DOI participants for Crude Oil and Finished Petroleum Products:

• Refiner – refers to a DOI Biofuel Participant engaged in refining Gasoline or Diesel for sale in the Philippines. Refiners may opt to supplement its inventory by directly importing Gasoline or Diesel. It may, in addition, import Bioethanol for sale to other Refiners, Importers or Own Users.
• Importer – refers to any person, natural or juridical, engaged in importing Crude Oil for refining and/or Finished Petroleum Products for the purpose of bulk distribution. An Importer may likewise engage in other business activities of the DOI.
• Bulk Distributor – refers to any person, natural or juridical, who is a non-importer and non-refiner but engaged in bulk distribution and/or retail of locally purchased Finished Petroleum Products sourced from Importer or Refiner.
• Terminal Operator/Lessor – refers to any person, natural or juridical, engaged in the business activity of operating for own use or leasing of storage facilities to DOI participants.
• Bunker Trader – refers to any person, natural or juridical, engaged in the in bunkering which is the activity of supplying fuel for use by ships and includes the shipboard logistics of loading fuel and distributing it among available bunker tanks.
• Hauler – refers to any person, natural or juridical, engaged in the transport of finished petroleum products, whether in bulk or packed form, from the Importer, Refiner, and Bulk Distributor down to Retailer through a network of transport facilities.
• Own User – refers to any person, natural or juridical, engaged in the importation of Crude Oil, Finished Petroleum Products, Base Oils and Lubricating Products for own use.

ii. DOI Participants and Investments
 

Table 1 Number of DOI Participants with Investments
* Includes own-user

Twenty-Four (24) years after the implementation of RA 8479, the downstream oil industry experienced a steady growth. New industry players entered various downstream oil business such as importation, distribution, and storage of petroleum products. Table 1 shows the cumulative Number of DOI Participants Engage in various downstream activity and their investments.

The number of industry participants increased by 19.59% from 18,218 in 2020 to 21,786 in 2021, bringing in a total actual investment of Php 20.41 billion or an accumulated investment of PhP 210.69 billion since the industry was deregulated in 1998.

Click to view/download FY2021 OIMB Year-End Comprehensive Report