AG&P builds major component for BP refinery

MANILA, Philippines - AG&P has started delivery of huge steel modules that make up the major components of an oil refinery in Indiana, USA which its owner, British Petroleum, is modernizing and expanding.

The shipment of modules, weighing around 400 tons and reaching several storeys in height each, was witnessed by President Aquino last Thursday. AG&P fabricates steel for heavy industries worldwide, particularly for projects in energy, mining, and oil.

“We built the steel modules of the refinery that, when shipped to the US, are just plugged together like Lego blocks. Our modules are so precisely fabricated that they are ready to go right after assembly, saving time and money for our clients,” said Angelito D. Bermudo, president and CEO of AG&P. 

He said in building the modules, the company registered seven million safe work hours without lost time, a major achievement by global standards since it indicates corporate adherence to international best practices.

AG&P, he said, is known abroad when it comes to building modules for oil rigs and platforms, refineries and petrochemical complexes for the likes of BP, Chevron-Texaco, Unocal, Bechtel, Fluor Daniel, Kellog, and Foster Wheeler, the latter being the designer of the BP modernization project.

“AG&P’s specialization is steel fabrication. We have competed and won against major players from all over. We are now trying to make AG&P known in the Philippines, firstly, to let the public know that a Filipino company is doing very well outside, and secondly, that we are ready to compete for major local projects,” he said.

AG&P, he said, offers products and services that can be very competitive in terms of quality and price at the global level.

“With the entry into AG&P of new owners with huge funds and extensive global reach, we have virtually overnight metamorphosed into one that has the competence and now the financial muscle to be more aggressive,” he added.

AGP Philippine Holdings I, Inc., a consortium of Filipino investors, bought 98.19 percent shareholdings in AG&P from DMCI Holdings, Inc. last December 2010. 

The company has 3,700 employees at its peak and a fabrication yard that sits on a 44.7-hectare seafront property in Bauan, Batangas.