• Petron allots P15 B for capex this year

Petron Corp. is investing P15 billion this year for network expansion and improvement of its refinery operations here and abroad, company officials said.

In a briefing, Petron senior vice president and CFO Emmanuel Eraña said P10 billion would be set for the Philippines and P5 billion for Malaysia for a total of P15 billion.

The capital expenditure is roughly the same as last year. “We’re on maintenance mode in terms of capex,” the Petron CFO said.

In terms of network expansion, Petron general manager Lubin Nepomuceno said the oil firm is setting a target of 200 stations this year— 150 in the Philippines and 50 in Malaysia.

As of end-2017, Petron had 2,400 service stations in the Philippines and around 600 stations in Malaysia.

Petron is also working on its plans to expand its Bataan refinery to produce more petrochemicals.

Nepomuceno said the expansion would be a catalytic cracking reforming unit (CCRU), producing fuels but mostly petrochemicals such as benzene, toluene, and xylene.

Petron is looking to complete the detailed engineering design within the year and will have clarity on the capacity of the expansion in the first quarter next year, Eraña said.

Petron’s Bataan refinery is producing 180,000 barrels per day, which increased from 120 barrels per day after completing the Refinery Master Plan 2 (RMP-2) in 2016.

Meanwhile, Petron Malaysia is investing $100 million to build a hydro-treater in its 88,000 barrel-per-day Port Dickson refinery.

Nepomuceno said the project would be constructed starting towards the end of the year and will take one to two years to complete.