Petron to close Bataan refinery in mid-January

Petron Corp.’s crude oil refinery in Bataan, the Philippines’ last such facility, will in the second half of January again stop operations temporarily, the company confirmed on Monday.

Affirming statements attributed to Petron president Ramon Ang, the San Miguel Corp. subsidiary said in a regulatory filing the stoppage was not permanent as Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. did earlier this year.

Ang also said the refinery would resume operations depending on the improvement of the Philippine economy.

“During this economic shutdown [of the refinery], the company will conduct maintenance activities on key process units,” Petron said.

On May, the refinery in Limay temporarily stopped operation for expected weeks-long maintenance activities, but prevailing low refining margins extended the shutdown up to September.

Shell did the same—observing that low refining margins have been prevailing even before the pandemic—but announced on August that its refinery in Batangas would no longer resume operations and instead would be transformed into a fully imports-receiving facility.

In October, Ang told reporters Petron’s refinery was also in danger of having to shut down permanently and that this might happen “very, very soon.”

Ang said a continually lopsided tax regime put the refinery in Limay at a disadvantage compared to importers of refined petroleum products.

Earlier this week, a group of about 50 employees at the Limay refinery called on officials of the local government. The employees supported a proposal to reclassify the refinery as part of the Freeport Area of Bataan.

According to Petron, the permanent closure of the refinery would affect 1,000 workers directly employed as well as more than 2,500 others who work in at least 25 third-party service providers of Petron. INQ