Depressed refining margins to hit Petron,
may continue to suffer this year as depressed refining margins are seen to persist in
Consumption of petroleum products and petrochemicals was low in 2019 compared to recent years because of the trade dispute between the US and
"We do not expect the commodity consumption growth to pick up significantly in 2020, given our subdued expectation of economic growth in the region especially in
"The decline in refining margins stemmed from a steep fall in fuel oil prices, driven by the
PSPC -- the local unit of Royal Dutch Shellearned
It said some smaller refiners could use the low-priced fuel oil as feedstock, "possibly further increasing the supply of gasoil and keeping margins low." "By contrast, the high-complexity refiners have little fuel oil in their product mixes, and will see less impact from the decline in spreads," Halan said.
Moody's expects refinery upgrades by Asian refiners to l increase as fuel oil spreads remain depressed. "Most of the rated Asian refiners have been looking to upgrade their refineries so that they can use heavy crude, available at a discount to benchmark crude, and also to minimize production of fuel oil," Halan said.
In July last year, Petron announced plans to put its expansion plans on hold amid a challenging business environment. It was supposed to expand its world-class facility in Bataan to add 90,000 barrels per day and bring the refinery's total capacity to 270,000 barrels per day by 2021. Petron's refinery in Limay, Bataan, which supplies 40 percent of the country's fuel requirements, is the biggest and pioneering refinery in
© Pakistan Press International, source