Ramon Ang, president and CEO of Petron, stressed that the heavy taxes paid by refiners as compared to oil importers make refining a difficult business to be in. He said refiners pay value-added tax (VAT) and excise tax, among others, when they import crude oil into the country and then pay another round of taxes after processing and selling their products to the local market. With the fluctuations in global oil prices, Petron has also incurred significant losses.