Petron gets regulatory nod on biofuels business

PETRON CORP. has secured regulatory approval on its planned biofuels venture, the company announced on Tuesday.

In a regulatory filing, Petron said the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved an amendment to the company’s articles of incorporation that will allow it to construct and operate a coco-methyl ester plant and secure relevant permits for the project.

Petron said the SEC approval will amend the company’s primary purpose under its second article of incorporation, which will allow the inclusion of biofuels in its business.

The company said the amendment will allow it to “acquire, store, hold, transport, use, experiment with, market, distribute, exchange, sell and otherwise dispose of, import, export, handle, trade, and generally deal in, refine, treat, reduce, distill, manufacture, produce, and smelt, as applicable, any and all kinds of petroleum and petroleum products, oil, gas and other volatile substances.”

In August, Petron got the approval of its board of directors to include biofuels in the company’s portfolio, while its stockholders, representing 75.93% of the total outstanding capital stock of the company, approved the proposed amendment in October.

Petron is the operator of the only remaining refinery in the country that provides 40% of local petroleum requirements. Its refinery in Bataan produces 180,000 barrels per day.

It also has about 50 terminals and around 2,700 service stations where it sells gasoline and diesel. Its combined refining capacity is 268,000 barrels a day, producing fuels and petrochemicals.

At the local bourse on Tuesday, shares in the company closed 1.25% lower or P2.37 apiece. — Ashley Erika O. Jose