By Jenniffer B. Austria

San Miguel Corp. plans to exercise its option to take over oil refiner Petron Corp. within the year, president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang told reporters over the weekend.

“I hope we can do it within the year,” says Ang of the agreement reached by San Miguel with Petron owner SEA Refinery Holdings Inc.

San Miguel and Sea Refinery of the Ashmore group last year signed an agreement giving the food and beverage giant the option to acquire the latter’s entire stake in Sea Refinery Corp., the major shareholder of Petron.

The agreement gave San Miguel two years from Dec. 24, 2008 to exercise its option.

Sea Refinery Corp. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SEA Refinery Holdings BV, which owns 50.17 percent of the outstanding shares of Petron.

The completion of the option agreement could trigger a tender offer on the part of San Miguel. The Securities and Regulation Code requires companies acquiring more than 35 percent of a listed company to conduct tender offer on the remaining shares.

The Philippine Stock Exchange earlier asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to consider requiring San Miguel to conduct a tender offer on Petron shares.

The PSE said San Miguel might be covered by the mandatory tender offer rules provided under the SRC based on the recent disclosures made by San Miguel and Petron.

The PSE noted the San Miguel already conceded that it entered into an option agreement to acquire the 100 percent stake of Sea Refinery Corp., which is a major shareholder of Petron.

San Miguel also committed to pay the Ashmore group approximately $10 million in advance the option agreement.

Petron earlier said Ang, San Miguel chairman and chief executive Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. and San Miguel director Estelito Mendoza were elected as directors of Petron.

Petron is the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines, supplying more than one-third of the country’s oil requirements. It operates a refinery in Limay, Bataan with a rated capacity of 180,000 barrels a day. It processes crude oil into a full range of petroleum products including LPG, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, kerosene, industrial fuel oil, solvents, asphalts, mixed xylene and propylene.

Petron has 32 depots and terminals across the country with nearly 1,300 service stations.