Admitting that lesser-known oil firms could take a serious financial hit and close shop because of the price freeze order, Unioil Petroleum Philippines said Thursday that it is ready to offer these more obscure gas stations a helping hand.

Unioil General Manager Chito Medina-Cue, Jr. said they are willing to share their petroleum products to new oil players with small retail stations across the country that could not get enough supply at fair dealer prices.

“We want to help these new players by providing them enough supply, especially those who are suffering from losses and cannot continue with their businesses,” Cue said.

By providing them cache of fuel, Unioil can offer the retail station owners a sub-lease contract to continue operating instead of closing down which may affect the supply in the local market.

“Unioil can offer these new players a five-year contract to ensure a steady supply of fuel products in their respective areas where they are located,” Cue said.

“With this program, we will be giving them specific margins to make profits even in just a specific amount. We will also be giving them incentives similar to our dealer-owned stations for them to survive,” explained the oil firm executive.

Cue said that interested parties need only to contact the company’s retail department (tel. no. 687-8877) to avail of the sub-lease program.

Filipino-owned Unioil, considered a small player in the oil industry, was the first to comply with Executive Order (EO) 839 which called on all oil companies to revert to their October 15 price levels until Luzon is no longer in a State of Calamity.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave out the directive last October 23 to prevent unnecessary increases on fuel prices following the devastation caused by recent typhoons.

The so-called “Big Three” composed of Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corp., Chevron Philippines, and other oil firms heeded the EO earlier this week but at the same time dangled the possibility of a fuel shortage if the price cap carries on long enough.

Cue earlier guaranteed that Unioil would not encounter a shortage, noting that there is a steady supply of finished petroleum products in the international market.

“We cannot deny the fact that all of us are not making money in this kind of situation and there's no exception,” Cue said. “But Unioil is willing to sacrifice to help the consuming public because at the end of the day, all of us can still survive whether it’s small or big players.”

Meanwhile, dozens of militants comprising the Pagkakaisa ng mga Manggagawa sa Transportasyson (PMT) voiced out their disgust at the Big Three via demonstrations at the oil firms’ offices Thursday morning in Makati City.

The protesters denounced the major oil companies for holding the public “hostage” with their unreasonable price increases, the last few of which were implemented just days removed from “Ondoy” and “Pepeng’s” wrath.

Shell, Petron, and Chevron control over 80 percent of the country’s oil industry.

The angry militants during their short programs also paraded a picture of Department of Energy (DoE) Secretary Angelo Reyes, whom they called the Big Three’s “puppy.” Reyes has long been criticized for failing to get tough on price hike-happy oil players.