Sole Philippine Refinery Restarts Operations, an Industrial Info Market Brief

The sole remaining refiner in the Philippines, Petron Corporation (PCOR), restarted its 180,000-barrel-per-day Limay Bataan Refinery on September 3 after carrying out maintenance work on all processing units.

COVID-19 has struck down many industries in the Philippines, notably the refining industry, as evidenced by the closure of the other Philippine refinery, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation (PSPC) mid-August this year due to weak fuel demand in the last five months, coupled with poor refining margins and a collapse in prices. Petron is no exception. While weathering a $291 million deficit in the first half of 2020, the company intends to improve its productivity and reduce expenses to mitigate COVID-19's impact. At the same time, cash preservation initiatives and prudent management of capital expenditure are the rejuvenation keys for its second half this year. Nonetheless, the company is forecasting modest gains with prices starting to recover and the economy slowly reopening.