Petron ready to move out of Pandacan – Ang

MANILA, Philippines - Petron Corp., the country’s leading oil refining and marketing company, said it is ready to stop its fuel supply operations at the Pandacan oil depot in Manila following a recent order of the Supreme Court on oil companies to relocate their terminals.

Petron chairman and CEO Ramon Ang said the company is committed to cease operation in Pandacan by 2016.

At the same time, he assured the public that the transfer would not adversely affect fuel prices and supply.

He said the company has been preparing for this following a commitment the company made in 2010 with the Manila government and a group of priests led by then Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales to draw up a business plan and establish alternative sites for its Pandacan fuel storage operations.

“We made a commitment to stop our operations and we are ready. We have identified several alternative sites in Luzon to absorb our volumes in Pandacan,” Ang said.

The Supreme Court had recently ruled against Manila City Ordinance 8187, which reclassified Pandacan into a heavy industrial zone. It also affirmed its 2009 decision which upholds the validity of City Ordinance No. 8027, reclassifying the district into a commercial zone.

Ang said the company is looking for alternative terminal sites for its Pandacan facility.

He said the move makes good business sense as it coincides with the growth in demand for petroleum products outside Metro Manila and brings supply points closer to emerging demand centers and Petron’s growing number of retail stations.

At present, Petron has the most extensive distribution network in the oil industry with over 30 terminals nationwide, 13 in Luzon alone. It also has the widest retail network with around 2,200 service stations, more than the combined network of two of its biggest competitors.

The 33-hectare depot, the largest in the country, houses the storage facilities and distribution terminals of the country’s major petroleum industry players, namely Petron, Shell and Chevron, which has already moved out in June.