Petron’s Bataan refinery ensures ongoing supplies amid COVID-19 pandemic

Petron Corp., Mandaluyong City, Philippines, is assuring it will maintain a continuous supply of petroleum products amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak from its 180,000-b/d Bataan refinery at Limay, about 150 km southwest of Manila.

With the oil industry among those granted exemption from the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine by the Philippines government, Petron has fully activated its business continuity plan, with the company’s front-line workers now guided by necessary protocols to ensure their health and safety, Petron said.

The operator said it also will make sure during the ongoing crisis that there is enough fuel, especially for vital industries to keep the economy running.

“So far, our entire supply chain is working overtime to ensure that enough products are produced at our [Bataan] refinery. Vessels are continuously loaded so that our terminals are filled, and tank truck operations remain consistent. We are also trying our best to keep as many of our stations open and filled as possible while putting the safety and well-being of our employees first,” said Ramon Ang, Petron’s president and chief executive officer.

Alongside its Bataan refinery that supplies nearly 30% of the country’s petroleum requirements, Petron also operates 30 terminals and more than 2,400 service stations nationwide.

Petron currently remains in the process of executing a project to expand and upgrade production capacity at the Bataan refinery (OGJ Online, Jan. 3, 2020; July 24, 2018).

As part of the upgrading and expansion project, Honeywell UOP LLC is delivering basic engineering design, technology licensing, and associated services for a condensate fractionation unit, naphtha hydrotreater, and its proprietary UOP CCR Platforming, Sulfolane, LPG and kerosine Merox, and distillate Unionfining units to enable the refinery to meet rising domestic demand for motor fuels by upgrading 100,000 b/d of condensates and light crude oils to aromatics and automotive fuels.

Designed to help the country meet increased demand for cleaner-burning gasoline and diesel, the expansion project—which adds a second aromatics train at the site—will allow the refinery to produce 75,000 b/d of refined fuels and 1 million tonnes/year of aromatics, increasing overall production capacity of 55%.

Petron has yet to confirm a timeframe for when the revamp and expansion project will be completed.