DOE daunted by Petron refinery offer

The Department of Energy on Friday admitted that the government would be saddled with more daunting problems if it were to re-acquire the Bataan refinery from Petron Corp.

In a briefing, Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras explained that the reacquisition of the refinery would not only cause huge and highly critical financial setbacks on the government’s limited budget, it could also lead to the “re-regulation” of the oil industry, which the energy chief described as a step in the wrong direction.

According to Almendras, the government neither has the money nor the resources for this venture.

“If we decide to buy back these facilities then we will have to cancel some schools, hospitals, and infrastructure projects elsewhere, which President Aquino already said he wants to prioritize. It was clearly explained that President Aquino would rather spend the money on things that will directly benefit the people,” Almendras said.

Almendras was commenting on a letter sent to him by Petron chair and CEO Ramon S. Ang last Oct. 12, in which Petron had offered the Bataan refinery for the government to buy back. This was supposed to be in response to the growing clamor from the public, urging the government to increase its participation in the downstream oil industry to arrest the continuous increases in local pump prices.

But the government is not officially closing its doors to the proposal, as it explained that Petron’s move was only meant to show its support for the Aquino administration, Almendras said.

“It is not with finality that I am saying no to it. I hope to discuss this in next Wednesday’s economic managers meeting,” he said.

Still, the energy chief questioned the wisdom of the government acquiring the refinery. He said that in the past, the government did not do a good job of running the facility.

According to Almendras, the only time the government will acquire Petron’s refinery is when “all the oil companies decide to pull out from the Philippines because we’re not an ideal investment destination…. That’s the only time the government [will] step in.”  Amy R. Remo