Petron Corporation (Tatak Marcos)

Ang Petron Corporation (dating pangalan ay PetroPhil Corporation) ay naging 100% pag-aari ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas sa kapanahunan ni dating Pangulong Ferdinand E. Marcos.  Ngunit ibinenta ng gobyerno ni Fidel V. Ramos ang 60% ng Petron noong 1994.

A Storied History

Petron traces its rich heritage to September 7, 1933 when Socony Vacuum Oil Company of New York and the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey merged to form the Standard Vacuum Oil Company or Stanvac. After suspending operations in World War II, Stanvac promptly resumed its operations in 1945.

In 1957, Stanvac started constructing a refinery in the province of Limay, Bataan to meet the country’s growing fuel needs. At the time of its inauguration in 1961, it had a refining capacity of 25,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The end of Standard Oil and Socony Vacuum’s partnership in 1962 gave birth to Esso Philippines. In 1973, the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) acquired Esso Philippines at the height of the first oil crisis and renamed it Petrophil Corporation.

In February 1988, Petrophil was rechristened Petron Corporation. Amid the most difficult and trying times that the country faced, including the Gulf War of 1991, Petron readily worked hand-in-hand with the national government in ensuring an uninterrupted and reliable supply of petroleum products.

Deregulation and Privatization

The 1990s saw the full deregulation of the local oil industry. In preparation for this, PNOC partnered with the world’s largest crude oil producer, Saudi Aramco, to give Petron a reliable crude supply and access to state-of-the-art refining and marketing technology.

In 1994, PNOC and Saudi Aramco signed a stock purchase agreement that gave Aramco 40% ownership of Petron. In the same year, 20% of PNOC shares were sold in what was dubbed as the “mother of all initial public offerings (IPOs)” in the Philippines.