Expansion of Petron’s refinery complex in Bataan on track for completion in 2022

By Lenie Lectura - August 21, 2018

https://businessmirror.com.ph/expansion-of-petrons-refinery-complex-in-bataan-on-track-for-completion-in-2022/

PETRON Corp. is on track to accomplish an expansion of its refinery complex in Bataan, its top official said.

“We think the newly expanded capacity should be on stream by year 2022,” Petron Chairman Ramon Ang said. “It’s on schedule. From 180,000 barrels, it will become 270,000 a day to 300,000 barrels a day,” said Ang.

The country’s largest oil firm prefers to expand its Bataan refinery because it is faster to implement and less costly compared to building a new one.

The existing refinery currently provides nearly 40 percent of the country’s petroleum requirements through its 180,000 barrel-per-day Bataan refinery, 30 terminals and 2,400 stations nationwide.

Petron is in talks with service providers for its continuous catalytic reforming unit project, which would allow it to produce “a combination of fuels, mostly petrochemicals such as mixed xylene, toluene and benzene.”

Ang said investment to be poured into the expansion project could be recovered in eight to 10 years.

“So far, we continue to enjoy undisturbed possession of the leased properties vital to our operations, pending resolution of the issues we raised in court against the Philippine National Oil Co. and its president. There is nothing to worry about. We remain committed to providing the kind of services to our consumers all over the country,” Ang said.

The leases of both service stations and bulk plants of Petron are set to expire this month.

Petron remains the fastest-growing oil company. Ang said Petron, which supplies more than a third of the country’s petroleum requirements, is well positioned to fuel the government’s infrastructure program.

In the first half of the year, Petron posted a 16-percent increase in net income to P9.5 billion, from P8.2 billion in the same period last year.

Revenues increased 32 percent to P273.5 billion over the period from 2017’s P207 billion, driven by sustained sales volumes of its Philippine and Malaysian operations and higher prices of crude oil and finished products. Consolidated sales volumes grew to 54.4 million barrels. Benchmark Dubai crude oil averaged $68 per barrel in the first six months of 2018, 32 percent higher over the same period last year.

“We intend to fortify our leadership position as we ride on the continued economic growth of the Philippine and Malaysian markets. We continue to integrate our value chain, build up our supply and logistics capabilities and roll out more service stations than our competitors,” Ang said.