Petron’s decision to suspend operations of its refinery in Limay, Bataan and Shell’s closure of its Tabangao refinery in Batangas City pulled down the market share of the country’s two largest oil firms to 34.1% in the first half from 40.3% in the same period last year.
Based on data from the Department of Energy, Petron’s market share particularly went down to 18.6% from 21.9% yearly, while Shell’s declined to 15.5% from 18.4 previously.
Petron halted the operations of the country’s only remaining refinery in February due to thin margins and taxation issues, but reopened it in June. Shell, meanwhile, permanently closed the Tabangao refinery in August 2020 due to unprofitability and instead, converted it into an import terminal, which commenced operations also in June.
Chevron, which markets Caltex, also shed part of its market share to 4.86% from 6.12% year-on-year.
Phoenix Petroleum remains at third with 7.8%. The Davao-based oil firm edged out Chevron, the long-time occupant of the third spot, last year.
Including that of the Dennis Uy-led firm, the market share of oil companies other than the traditional “Big 3” rose to 52.3%. This was spurred by stiff competition, as well as aggressive expansion and marketing programs, which in turn affected the market share of Petron, Shell, and Chevron.