Government has no plan to sell stakes in Petron, PNOC’s exploration firm

The National Government (NG) has no immediate plan to sell its stakes in Petron Corp. and Philippine National Oil Co-Exploration Corp (PNOC-EC).

Finance Undersecretary Jay Singson said yesterday that they do not see the immediate need to sell the government’s stakes in Petron Corp. and PNOC-EC.

"Given the prevailing condition in the oil sector, we need to study our moves carefully," Singson said.

Singson also said the decision of the Committee on Privatization (COP) to withdraw the privatization process of the oil exploration firm still holds.

"The current market condition, used by the COP in evaluating the decision to withdraw the EC privatization, still exists," Singson said, adding that the "COP is also not putting forward any privatization plan for Petron."

Amid the rising oil prices, there were proposals from some sectors for the government to buy back its shares in Petron.

But the idea had been immediately dismissed by the Department of Energy (DOE) saying that gaining back majority ownership in Petron will spare the Philippines from this "global oil phenomenon".

Senate President Franklin Drilon early this year proposed for the reacquisition of Petron shares by the government.

According to Drilon, the government only needs to reacquire 11 percent more in Petron to be able to regain its majority stake in the oil firm.

Drilon said this proposal is an answer to the "social implications of an uncontrolled increase in oil prices."

Drilon said no law is needed to reacquire control of Petron, which he described as a purely administrative move and one which the President can legally order. He felt that controlling Petron could, in the long run, enable the government to determine pump prices in the country.

The government privatized Petron in a public offering in 1994.

The government, through the PNOC, still owns 40 percent of Petron. Through this process, the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. was able to buy 40 percent of the firm while the remaining 20 percent is owned by about 2,000 individual and institutional investors in the stock market.