BY LENIE LECTURA – JULY 6, 2021
from Business Mirror
PETRON Corp., the country’s largest oil company, said it expects to finish in the second half of 2022 the construction of a power plant that will cater to the power requirements of its Bataan refinery.
The oil firm said in a preliminary prospectus to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it is currently constructing a new power plant, with a capacity of 184 megawatts (MW), to replace some of its old generators and generate incremental power and steam.
“The power plant is designed to generate power and steam required by the Refinery, utilizing cheaper feedstock (petcoke) in lieu of more expensive fuel oil. In addition, products previously used as refinery fuel will be converted to high-value products. Construction is expected to be completed by the second half of 2022.”
The Petron Bataan Refinery underwent a planned total plant shutdown from February 10 to May 22 this year. To serve petroleum demand during the refinery shutdown, Petron imported finished petroleum products.
Opportunity maintenance works were done during the period. Petron said the refinery startup proceeded on May 23 and that it is currently operating stably. Commercial operations resumed last June 1.
Other investments in the Petron Bataan Refinery include the expansion of the polypropylene plant and initiatives to reduce production costs and improve crude processing flexibility.
“The expansion at the polypropylene plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2021 and will increase its production capacity from 160,000 MT [metric tons] to 225,000 MT annually,” it added.
The Petron Bataan Refinery is capable of producing a range of white petroleum products, such as LPG, naphtha, gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel and diesel, with no residual fuel oil production. It also produces petrochemical feedstocks—benzene, toluene, mixed xylene, and propylene.
It has its own product piers and two offshore berthing facilities, one of which can accommodate very large crude oil carriers. In December 2016, it acquired the cogeneration power plant from SMC Powergen, Inc., which consists of four turbo generators with a combined capacity of 140 MW and four solid fuel fired circulating fluidized bed boilers. This ensures the sufficient and reliable supply of steam and power for the Petron Bataan Refinery and exports excess power to the grid.
In addition to the Petron Bataan Refinery, the company also owns and operates a fuel additives blending plant in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone with a capacity of 12,000 MT per year.
Petron also operates a lube oil blending plant in Tondo, Manila. The capacity of the New Lube Oil Blending Plant is 90,000,000 liters per year per shift.
Petron ended 2020 with a market share of 22.1 percent. It has more than 2,000 retail service stations as of end-March this year. Most of these stations are located in Luzon, where demand is heaviest.
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