Caltex to stop refining operations in RP

Caltex (Philippines) Inc. said yesterday it would stop its refining operations in the Philippines and import oil products for the domestic market instead.

Caltex, a unit of US oil giant ChevronTexaco, said in a statement the move was "driven by the competitive conditions in the Philippines marketplace.

"These conditions require cost efficiencies only available in refineries with greater scale and modern technology. There also continues to be overcapacity in the market and this is expected to continue to depress refining margins."

Caltex said it would invest about $13.6 million to turn its ageing 72,000-barrels-per-day refinery in Batangas province south of Manila into a product terminal with a storage capacity of about 2.7 million barrels.

The terminal will be operational late this year. – AFP