Petron eyes Esso unit in Thailand

After acquiring a majority stake in Esso Malaysia Berhad, Petron Corp. has expressed interest in buying a stake in Esso Thailand Public Co. Ltd., another subsidiary of US giant Exxon Mobil Corp.

At the sidelines of the Euromoney Conferece Wednesday, Petron president Eric O. Recto clarified that while the country’s biggest oil refiner and retailer was not actively pursuing more acquisitions at the moment, it would still consider its options should something worthwhile come up.

“Esso Thailand is not for sale, at least not that we know of, as of the moment. But last year, there was talk about it being available for sale, which was brought about by the interest that Thai Oil had expressed. So if (Esso Thailand) becomes available, we will look at it,” Recto explained.

Recto’s pronouncement came on the heels of Petron’s successful acquisition of 175.5 million shares of Esso Malaysia, which represented 65 percent of the total voting shares. Last week, the offshore affiliate of Petron, Petron Oil and Gas International Sdn Bhd, served a tender offer to acquire the remaining 94.5 million shares, representing 35 percent of the total voting shares.

According to Recto, the investment in the Malaysian oil company would affect the “Philippine business from a financial standpoint, meaning we will be able to consolidate the financial performance of Esso Malaysia with that of Petron’s.”

“From a logistic standpoint, there will not be much of an impact initially. It’s a good standalone business and at some point, when we are able to grow (Esso Malaysia) and when we have completed the upgrade of the Petron refinery in Limay, Bataan, there may be opportunities to support each other,” Recto explained.