Profit of leading oil firm Petron Corporation soared to P10.1 billion in 2023 on the back of higher sales of jet fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The oil firm said that its consolidated net income from January to December last year grew by 51 percent from P6.7 billion in 2022, while its operating income increased by 60 percent to P30.7 billion from P19.2 billion.

According to the company, sales from the local and international markets continued to rise in 2023 at 126.9 million barrels, or a 13 percent jump from the 112.8 percent in the previous year.

For its Philippine home market, in particular, registered sales hovered at 79.5 million barrels, expanding from 68.5 million barrels in 2022.

This was due to an increase in its jet fuel sales by 50 percent where it cornered about 80 percent of the market, while LPG sales also rose by 26 percent.

Its overall market share grew by 24.5 percent in the first half of 2023, as per data from the Department of Energy.

The company’s revenues, however, dropped by seven percent to P801 billion from the previous year’s P857.6 billion as Dubai crude plummeted by 15 percent to the level of $82 per barrel on average from $96 per barrel in 2022.

“Our strategy to capture the economic resurgence and minimize external pressures played a key role to our success. While challenges remained, our company managed to deliver significant improvements in high-demand sectors,” Petron President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang said.

“We are committed to strengthen these efforts, among other initiatives that will not only solidify our recovery but will also take us further ahead in nation-building,” Ang added.

On the other hand, Petron posted the highest fuel-marking initiative of the government, logging a total of 17.83 billion liters of fuel marked from September 2019 to October last year.

The fuel-marking program is a measure against the smuggling of petroleum products that involves injecting chemical identifiers into tax-paid oil products after the taxes are paid on refined and imported gasoline, diesel, and kerosene.