PSE Circular for Brokers No. 2184-99

September 1, 1999 PSE CIRCULAR FOR BROKERS NO. 2184-99 Press Release August 31, 1999 PBR AMONG THE MOST EFFICIENT REFINERIES The Petron Bataan Refinery is one of the most efficient refineries in the region. This is in response to the article that consumers are being made to suffer successive oil price increases because three-giant oil companies have been inefficient in their refining operations. It was said that oil firms would not want to absorb losses, they simply pass them on as added costs to the consumers in the form of oil price increases. Based on a widely accepted, independent survey conducted by a reputable benchmarking company, a comparative study among the refineries in the Asia Pacific region shows that the Petron Bataan Refinery rates as one of the most efficient refineries in Asia and its operating costs are kept among the lowest when compared to the refineries of the same size and complexity. The complexity of a refinery is normally measured by its ability to convert low-priced components of crude such as fuel oil into higher priced products such as gasoline. Petron's refinery can be considered as medium in terms of complexity as compared to other more complex refineries, such as those operating in Singapore. However, the investment required for a complex refinery is considerably more than a less complex refinery. It is also contrary to reports that oil companies enjoy tariff protection from the government since the import duty from both finished products and crude oil are the same at three percent import duty. LexLib