Listed firm Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation (SHLPH) has secured P9.0 billion loan from the Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI) and Metrobank.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Shell said the P9 billion loan will be equally split between the two banks. The loan will have five-year repayment period; and it also serves as a renewal of its existing five-year loan with the BPI which is maturing this March 8.
“The loan will reduce SHLPH’s exposure to short-term volatilities in the market as it benefits from the low interest rate for its cash requirements,” the oil firm stated.
Shell is continually carrying out its retail portfolio buildup – that had been cast with up to P20 billion capital expenditure (capex) rollout within five-year stretch.
Company executives previously conveyed that project implementation and funneling of capital outlay of P3.0 billion to P4.0 billion annually shall be done along the priorities set – including the shift towards more company-owned mobility stations rather than dangling them as dealer-owned sites.
The oil industry had been extremely hit when the coronavirus pandemic walloped the world in 2020. However, the sector’s fate was completely reversed when the Russia-Ukraine war erupted early part of 2022.
Essentially, that major geopolitical event turned the world upside down, but for the oil and gas sector, that came an opportunistic time for them to rake in huge profits.
The oil industry in the Philippines is similarly situated, hence, the players in the sector had also seen both their top and bottom lines on significant upticks.
Apart from shoring up its retail network in the deregulated downstream oil industry, the Shell group has also been ramping up its investments in other segments of the Philippine energy sector – primarily those on renewable energy (RE) and electric vehicles.
The other venture it is advancing to development phase is its planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility that will aid the country on the targeted re-birth of it gas industry.