PETRONAS and Phoenix Petroleum have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore a partnership in the Philippines. It covers downstream marketing and related technology solutions, and Phoenix announced it in a statement on March 22, 2023.
If it goes ahead, Phoenix would get access to PETRONAS’ branded marketing offerings, including its fuel and fluid technologies. PETRONAS would gain a foothold in the Philippines. The two companies will first carry out a joint feasibility study to decide how to take the collaboration to the next phase.
It is their second deal. In 2017 Phoenix Petroleum bought PETRONAS’ entire LPG business in the Philippines. That business now sits with Phoenix LPG Philippines, Inc., a Phoenix subsidiary.
What each side said
Ahmad Adly Alias, PETRONAS vice president of downstream business in refining, marketing and trading, said the company was “excited at the prospect of delivering an elevated fuel experience to customers in the Philippines.” He pointed to fuels derived from its Fluid Technology Solutions and to “state-of-the-art digital and sustainable solutions.”
Phoenix president Henry Albert Fadullon framed it as a brand tie-up. “Partnerships and collaborations between brands have been in fashion for some time now,” he said. Pairing PETRONAS’ technology and expertise as the largest fuel retail network operator in Malaysia with Phoenix’s knowledge of the local market “promises to be a new experience for our customers.”
The two companies
PETRONAS has a presence in over 90 countries by Phoenix’s account, and over 100 by the Petronas group’s own description. Its Malaysian retail footprint exceeds 1,000 stations.
Phoenix is a homegrown Philippine firm established in 2002 in Davao City and the first independent oil company listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange. It started with five stations in Mindanao by 2005 and now has close to 700 retail outlets nationwide. Its other businesses include terminaling and hauling, convenience store retailing, asphalt, car repair and maintenance, and digital transactions. It also operates in Singapore and Vietnam.
Sources
- Global major PETRONAS partners with homegrown oil firm Phoenix Petroleum to explore opportunity in the Philippines | Phoenix Fuels
- Petronas, Phoenix Petroleum sign marketing pact → Context.ph
