Petron unveils plans to invest more than USD1 billion in Malaysia and Philippines

Philippine-based Petron Corp. unveiled its plans to invest more than USD1 billion to expand its retail network and optimize its refineries in the Philippines and Malaysia.

“We will continue with our investment, expansion, plant optimization, refinery optimization, petrochem expansion, network expansion, port expansion, terminal expansion, Petron Corp. President Ramon Ang said after the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting.

Petron Corp. owns and operates the Philippines’ largest oil refinery in Bataan province, in northern Luzon, with a capacity of 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) and owns the Port Dickson Refinery in Malaysia with a capacity of 88,000 bpd.

In the Bataan refinery, Petron is building two steam producer boilers at a cost of USD600 million to reduce the refinery’s operational costs, Ang said.

The remaining USD400 million in capital expenditure would be spent for its retail network expansion, including upgrading its pipelines and power lines. Petron Corp. has 3,000 service stations in the Philippines and Malaysia, which it plans to increase to 6,000 by 2022. However, permitting issues have caused delays in implementation; nonetheless, with only three years remaining, the company still plans to pursue its target of doubling its retail network.

The company will also soon commission a new lube oil blending plant, which is double the capacity of its current plant in Pandacan, Manila.