Petron Corp. posted higher sales in the third quarter, but this would not be enough to cover the substantial losses in the first two quarters, its top executive said over the weekend.
“The fuel consumption has gone down by 30 to 40 percent compared to normal times. If volume is down, it will be hard to recover it. Much less the losses, but we cannot recover what we lost in the first half,” Petron president Ramon Ang said in a briefing.
Petron suffered a consolidated net loss of P14.2 billion in the first six months, a reversal of the P2.6-billion net income in the same period last year as the company reeled from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
Petron’s inventory losses reached nearly P15 billion in the six-month period from the combined slump in demand, poor refining margins and collapse in prices.
Meanwhile, Ang questioned the government’s move to put up a national strategic petroleum reserve. “The [government] has no facilities and money. That will require $10 billion,” Ang said.