Petron, Shell refineries output up 14%

The combined throughput at the Philippines’ two oil refineries jumped by 14 percent year-on-year in the first semester with higher utilization rate as well as increase in import volumes and domestic demand for petroleum products.

Data from the Department of Energy show that the country’s current maximum working crude distillation capacity was 285,200 barrels per stream day—when a refinery runs continuously for 24 hours.

Petron Corp.’s facility in Bataan accounts for 180,000 barrels of capacity while Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.’s facility in Batangas represents the remainder.

The DOE said the two refineries were running at 80.7 percent of combined capacity during the first six months of 2018. The utilization rate was 70.5 percent in the same period in 2017.

“As of the first half of 2018, the local refiners processed 41.64 million barrels of various types of crude oil, an increase of 13.8 percent vis-à-vis 36.58 million barrels” in the year-ago period, the DOE said.

“Consequently, local petroleum refinery production output was also up by 14.2 percent from 36.25 million barrels in the first half of 2017 to 41.38 million barrels,” the DOE added. “First half 2018 average refining output was at 228,600 barrels per day.”

The Philippines incurred a bill of $6.3 billion or about P328 billion on petroleum products imported in the first half of this year, ballooning by 34 percent year-on-year from $4.7 billion in the same period last year due to higher cost and bigger volume.

Data from the Department of Energy also showed that demand in the Philippines for such products rose by 1.6 percent in terms of volume to a total of 83.6 million barrels from 82.3 million barrels previously.

These are equivalent to 462,000 barrels daily compared to 454,600 barrels daily in the first six months of 2017.

Crude oil, which accounted for 54 percent of imports, billed at $2.9 billion compared to $1. billion last year.

The cost of bringing in crude oil jacked up to $69.83 per barrel this year from $52.56 per barrel previously.

The DOE noted that in the first half of the year, the peso traded at an average of 51.97 against the dollar, compared to 49.93 in the same period in 2017.

Even then, the Philippines exported $633.1 million worth of petroleum products, up 52 percent from $417.8 million.

Philippine exports included condensate, propylene, gasoline and naphtha as well as crude oil from the Galoc oil field in Palawan.

This brought the Philippines net oil import bill for the first semester to $5.7 billion, 33 percent higher compared to $4.3 billion a year ago.