Petron, the country’s largest oil firm, ended the first nine months with a consolidated net income of Php4.99 billion, reversing the Php12.6 billion net loss it incurred in the same period last year.

The oil giant said recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic came on the back of an uptrend of volume and revenues in the second and third quarters of the year despite the re-imposition of mobility restrictions.

Year-to-date September consolidated sales of 59.2 million barrels matched last year’s level of 59.5 million barrels in spite of the sustained quarantine lockdowns of 2021. 

Local sales of Petron’s lubricants grew by 28% for the period. Retail station volume posted a 9% increase even as the government re-imposed stricter quarantine protocols to contain another surge of COVID-19 infections.

Petrochemical exports likewise exhibited substantial growth with year-to-date September 2021 sales increasing by 68% versus 2020 volume.

“Despite external challenges, sustaining the financial resilience of the company has helped ensure that we have the means and the capacity to continue growing the business while providing our investors with the best returns. These include strategic investments in our service station expansion, refinery enhancements, and supply chain management. We are looking forward to ending 2021 in a much stronger and stable position than last year,” Petron President and CEO Ramon Ang said in a statement.

On Monday, Ang told the House Committee on Ways and Means that he is willing to sell Petron back to the government in the wake of the series of oil price hikes.

The company lost Php11.4 billion last year due to the pandemic, but was eventually able to post a Php3.87 billion profit in the first half of this year.

Last month, Petron listed on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corporation Php18 billion in fixed-rate, peso-denominated bonds. The proceeds will refinance the company’s existing debts, and fund the construction of a new power plant in Limay, Bataan set to be completed and operational next year.