Mobile Alerts  Newsletter  RSS  Archives  About Us  Bookmark Us  Twitter GMANews.TV
Business

Petron advances refinery maintenance to December

Email the Editor Print | | More
MANILA, Philippines - Petron Corp., the country’s largest oil refiner, said Friday its refinery will be shut down in December, a month ahead of schedule, for maintenance.

The shutdown, it said, will allow the tie-in of its new benzene, toulene and xylene (BTX) or petrochemicals unit to the continuous catalytic regenerator at the refinery also a month ahead of schedule.

Maintenance was originally scheduled for January 2009, and the tie-in, for March 2009. The shutdown will last for the whole of December.

"The decision to shut down our refinery one month earlier will put us in a better position to take advantage of market improvements that we project to happen in the first quarter of 2009," said Virginia A. Ruivivar, Petron public affairs manager in a statement.

"As the oil markets stabilize, we also expect prices of petrochemical feedstocks to become firmer," she added.

Its BTX unit will allow Petron to produce 22,000 metric tons of benzene and 150,000 metric tons of toluene per year, and increase its mixed xylene production to 220,000 metric tons per year.

Its refinery can process 180,000 barrels of oil per day.

Maintenance work for other units in its refinery will also be conducted in December.

The company, however, assures the public that it has more than enough inventory to serve the country’s requirements. The company has been building up its inventory for the past weeks. — Ava Kashima K. Austria, BusinessWorld
Email the Editor Print | | More
Other Business stories
US stocks fall for 3rd day as dollar strengthens
11/21/2009 | 12:25 PM
Stocks fell for a third straight day Friday as a disappointing outlook from computer maker Dell Inc. suggested that an economic recovery could be uneven. The major indexes all had moderate losses,... More
Anchor Land profits surge on strong sales, completed projects
11/20/2009 | 09:23 PM
Anchor Land Holdings Inc., an upscale real-estate company, said earnings surged by more than half as it increased sales and completed more projects. More
Malaysian economy shrinks at slower rate
11/20/2009 | 08:39 PM
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's economy shrank 1.2 percent in the third quarter, an improvement from the previous two quarters as the financial services and construction sectors gained strength,... More
Sony bets new online service to boost brand loyalty
11/20/2009 | 08:31 PM
TOKYO - Sony's new online service connecting the whole range of its gadgets to downloadable content like movies and games should help build brand loyalty, a top executive said Friday. More
AirAsia earns from rising passengers, add-on services
11/20/2009 | 08:27 PM
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Budget carrier AirAsia said Friday its net profit totaled 130 million ringgit ($38.4 million) in the third quarter, buoyed by rising passenger numbers and income from... More
EU extends antitrust review of Oracle's takeover of Sun Microsystems
11/20/2009 | 08:24 PM
BRUSSELS - European Union regulators said Friday that they have extended until January 27 a deadline to wrap up their antitrust review of Oracle Corp.'s planned $7.4 billion takeover of Sun... More
Nokia sheds jobs in Finland as it struggles to cut costs
11/20/2009 | 08:22 PM
HELSINKI - Nokia Corp., the world's largest mobile phone maker, said Friday it is axing 330 jobs at research and development units in Finland and Denmark as it continues to struggle to cut... More
Banks' bad debt ratio declines to eight-year low
11/20/2009 | 06:44 PM
Soured loans of universal and commercial banks fell to an eight-year low as the industry continued to lend steadily, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported on Friday. More
Land Bank extends bigger loan to priority sector
11/20/2009 | 06:23 PM
State-owned lender Land Bank said loans extended to its priority sectors rose by nearly a fifth as of end-September. More
GSIS asks regulator to delist MPIC shares
11/20/2009 | 06:02 PM
State-run Government Service Insurance System asked corporate regulators to suspend the trading and delist shares of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., the local unit of Hong Kong conglomerate First... More
ADVERTISEMENT
Nokia sheds jobs in Finland as it struggles to cut costs
2009-11-20 20:22:21
HELSINKI - Nokia Corp., the world's largest mobile phone maker, said Friday it is...
Ikeda tops ladies class, Gialon 3rd in men's at Indonesia Open
2009-11-21 16:18:50
Filipina-Japanese Chihiro Ikeda romped away with the championship while Zanie Boy Gialon finished...
Michael Jackson's glove among items at music auction
2009-11-21 16:23:06
NEW YORK — A collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia, including the now iconic...
Marikina ‘methane kitchen’ shut down
2009-11-20 00:48:30
The so-called Kalan ng Bayan or Methane Kitchen in Nangka village in Marikina City was closed...