Tabangao Refinery

The Tabangao Refinery is an oil refinery in Batangas City, Batangas, Philippines. It was owned and operated by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation with the capacity to process 110,000 barrels per day (17,000 m³/d).^[2]

Tabangao Refinery

Location of Tabangao Refinery Show map of Luzon Tabangao Refinery (Philippines) Show map of Philippines
Country	Philippines
Province	Batangas
City	Batangas City
Coordinates	13°43′19.5″N 121°03′57.7″E
Refinery details
Operator	Pilipinas Shell
Owner(s)	Pilipinas Shell
Commissioned	1962 (1962)
Decommissioned	2020 (2020)
Capacity	110,000 bbl/d (17,000 m3/d)
No. of employees	~1000[1] (2016)

History

The Tabangao Refinery's construction began in 1960 and was completed in 1962.^[3] The oil refinery's inauguration was held on July 28, 1962 which was attended by then-Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal.^[4] Its initially capacity was 30,000 bbl/d (4,800 m³/d).^[3]

In 1993, expansion and renovation of the Tabangao Refinery (called STAR or Shell Tabangao Asset Renewal) began, to replace the old facilities including two crude distillers built in the 1960s. The expansion was completed in 1995 and the capacity of the refinery increased to 110,000 bbl/d (17,000 m³/d)^[3]

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, operations of the refinery was suspended on May 24, 2020 and in August 2020, Pilipinas Shell decided to permanently close the refinery and convert the site into an import terminal.^[2] The closure left the Bataan Refinery of Petron as the sole operating oil refinery in the Philippines.^[5]