Petron Corporation
Petron Corporation is the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines, supplying more than a third of the country's oil requirements. It operates a refinery in Limay, Bataan, with a rated capacity of. From the refinery, Petron moves their products mainly by sea to 32 depots and terminals in the country. They operate a lube oil blending plant at their Pandacan Terminal, where it manufactures lubes and greases.
History
Petron's history dates back to September 7, 1933 when Socony-Vacuum Oil Company and Standard Oil of New Jersey merged their interests in the Far East into a 50–50 joint venture named the Standard Vacuum Oil Company. It operated in 50 countries, including the Philippines, New Zealand, China, and the region of East Africa.In 1953, the Philippine national government, partly to promote Claro M. Recto's national industrialization program and partly to respond to increasing international oil prices, attempted to launch a national oil company that caters Filipino consumers with affordable petroleum products. In 1957, Stanvac won the concession to build and operate a refinery in Bataan. For this purpose, FilOil Refinery Corporation was established in 1959.
In 1962, Stanvac was dissolved and the marketing and refining interests were divided between the former partners. Esso Philippines, Inc. took over Stanvac's Philippine operations, including FilOil Refinery Corporation. Esso was a tradename used by Standard Oil of New Jersey.
In 1973, the Philippine government, through the Philippine National Oil Company, acquired Esso Philippines, Inc., including FilOil Refinery Corporation. Esso Philippines, Inc. was renamed Petrophil Corporation and by 1974, Esso filling stations were rebranded as "Petron", a portmanteau of petroleum and research octane number. Subsequently, Mobil also sold its share of FilOil Refinery Corporation to PNOC. The oil refining and marketing units in PNOC, including FilOil, were merged into Petrophil Corporation.
In 1988, Petrophil Corporation was renamed Petron Corporation.
As part of the government's privatization program, PNOC sought a strategic partner that would give Petron a reliable supply of oil, plus access to state-of-the-art refining technology. The result was a partnership with the world's largest oil producer, Saudi Aramco. On February 3, 1994, PNOC and Aramco Overseas Co. B.V. signed a share purchase agreement that gave both an equal 40% stake in Petron Corporation. The remaining 20% of Petron shares were sold to the public.
On August 11, 2006, a Petron oil tanker, the Solar 1, carrying fuel oil sank, causing the Guimaras oil spill, the biggest oil spill in Philippine history.
In 2008, Saudi Aramco sold its entire stake to the Ashmore Group, a London-listed investment group. Ashmore acquired an additional 11% when it made a required tender offer to other shareholders. By July 2008, Ashmore, through its SEA Refinery Holdings B.V., had a 50.57 percent of Petron's stock. Ashmore's payment was made on December 2008. In December 2008, Ashmore acquired PNOC's 40% stake. In the same month, San Miguel Corporation said it was in the final stages of negotiations with the Ashmore Group to buy up to 50.1 percent of Petron. In 2010, SMC acquired majority control of Petron Corporation.
On March 30, 2012, Petron acquired ExxonMobil's downstream business in Malaysia in with XCEL Petroleum. In January 2013, Petron officially opened their Malaysian operations, rebranding all Esso and Mobil stations across Peninsular Malaysia.
Products and services
The company's ISO-14001-certified refinery processes crude oil into a full range of petroleum products, including LPG, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, kerosene, industrial fuel oil, solvents, asphalts and mixed xylene.With their ISO-9000/2000-certified lube oil blending plant, they are also able to produce mechanical lubricants and grease. These products are also sold through service stations and sales centers, and directly to industrial customers.
Through their nationwide network, they supply fuel oil, diesel, and LPG to various industrial customers. Petron's largest client is in the power sector.
They also supply jet fuel at key airports to international and domestic carriers.
Through more than 1,200 service stations, they retail gasoline, diesel and kerosene to motorists and public transport operators. They also sell their LPG brand Gasul to households and other consumers through an extensive dealership network.
Petron is expanding to non-fuels businesses which include convenience store brand "Treats".
Petron also opened its first fuel additives blending plant in the Asia-Pacific region at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in November 2008.
The plant has the capacity to blend 12,000 metric tons of fuel additives per year. When used in gasoline, diesel, or fuel oil, fuel additives improve efficiency, boost engine performance, and benefit the environment by reducing harmful emissions.
The facility was constructed in partnership with Innospec, a leading global fuel additives supplier, based on an agreement forged in 2006. As part of the agreement, Petron constructed and operated the plant to serve the requirements of Innospec's customers in the region, including Petron.
Traditionally, Innospec products used in Asia have been sourced from Europe.
In April 2008, Petron also commissioned the country's first petrochemical feedstock units, namely, the Petro Fluidized Catalytic Cracking unit and a Propylene Recovery Unit at its -per-day Bataan refinery.
The PetroFCC, the first "cracking" unit of its kind in the world, converts black products into higher-value LPG, gasoline, and diesel, and yields a higher level of the petrochemical feedstock propylene than typical FCC units.
The PRU further purifies the propylene so that it can be used in making various petrochemical products that are used to manufacture everyday items such as food packaging, appliances, suitcases, furniture, DVDs and even car parts.