BIZ BUZZ: Aramco heats up downstream oil sector

Shell Pilipinas is pumping up its strategies to remain a tough player in a sector shadowed by challenges and competition heated up by the return of Saudi oil giant Aramco, formerly a key investor at Petron Corp.

With Aramco re-entering the Philippine market through Unioil Petroleum, this means “competition continues to be very challenging,” said Michael Ramolete, vice president for mobility.

“That will obviously give us more things to think about in terms of how to be more competitive,” he said.

Shell Pilipinas has over a thousand stations catering to motorists across the country.

The group, however, has been shutting down some sites running in the red or those that failed to hit their targets, as part of its budget cuts. This move pumped up its earnings to P1.25 billion in 2024.

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With a vision to launch more profitable sites and grow its electric vehicle charging networks, Ramolete says Shell Pilipinas “will stay the course in terms of trying to defend and grow our business…”

The official also says Shell Pilipinas will keep an eye out for a new trend in the crowded market—with consolidation seen as the next act to up players’ game.