(plastemart) -- Oil refiner Petron Corp. has acquired 40% stake in Petrochemical Asia (HK) Ltd. (PAHL), with an option to raise its interest to 51%. PAHL is the parent firm of Philippine Polypropylene Inc. (PPI) which operates a polypropylene (PP) plant in Bataan. Nameplate capacity at the PP plant is 160,000 tpa of polypropylene, that can be expanded to 225,000 tons. Feedstock will be provided by Petron's refinery with capacity to produce 140,000 tpa of propylene.