Petron Corp. announces plan to expand oil refineries in Philippines and Malaysia

Petron Corp. said it is expanding its oil refineries in Malaysia and the Philippines, the company’s President and CEO Ramon Ang said.

“Expansion of [our] oil refinery in Malaysia is a big investment… The refinery will be expanded to produce petrochemicals and aromatics from 80,000 to 150,000 barrels,” he said.

The Philippine-based oil company acquired Esso Malaysia’s Port Dickson refinery and fuel retail network in Malaysia in 2011.

Ang also confirmed that Petron will indeed expand its oil refinery in Limay, Bataan province, in the Philippines, from 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 270,000 bpd. The company just completed upgrading the Limay oil refinery last year at a cost of USD2 billion.

Earlier, Ang said that Petron had plans to build a 250,000 bpd grassroots refinery in the Philippines. That investment would have cost between USD10 billion and USD15 billion and participation from foreign investors. Ang earlier also said Petron’s existing refinery in Limay, Bataan, had no room for expansion.

Petron Corp. posted a consolidated net income of PHP5.6 billion (USD112.63 million) in the first quarter, the highest quarterly income in the company’s history. Its net income from Philippine operations grew 69% to PHP4.1 billion (USD82.4 million), accounting for 74% of the company’s consolidated figures, while income from its Malaysian operations grew 335% to PHP1.5 billion (USD30.17 million).

Petron attributed its strong performance to a strong focus on more profitable segments, production of higher margin fuels and petrochemicals, and aggressive market expansion.

“We are definitely setting our sights on an even better performance this year as we derive more benefits from our strategic investments,” he said.