MANILA, Philippines - Petron Corp. has successfully completed the first phase of its retail network expansion as it managed to open 200 service stations in a year's time, the oil firm announced on Tuesday.

Ramon Ang, Petron chairman and chief executive officer, said the company has opened 200 new stations from January 2009 to January 2010.

This brought Petron's total service station count to 1,463, the largest retail network in the industry.

Bulk of the new service stations are in Luzon (84), while the rest are located in Visayas (48) and Mindanao (68).

"This is also in line with our strategic initiative to strengthen the company's core business and ensure our market dominance over the long term," Ang said in a statement.

Petron posted a net income of P3.37 billion in the first 9 months of 2009, a 21% rise from the P2.78 billion recorded in the same period in 2008.