Philippines approves sale of Petron shares

The Philippine government, through Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC), decided not to exercise its right to match London-listed Ashmore Group’s offer to buy Saudi Aramco’s 40% stake in Petron Corp. Ashmore, through unit SEA Refinery Holdings, had offered to buy Saudi Aramco’s 3.75 billion shares in Petron, currently held under the name of unit Aramco Overseas Company, for Php$550 million (US$12.9 million). Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said PNOC’s purchase of Aramco’s stake would have contradicted “our policy of privatizing government stakes in corporations and letting the private sector run commercial enterprises as effectively and efficiently as possible.” (May 12, 2008)